Date: 20 August 2007
Source: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
Person(s): Phon Phat
Target(s): journalist(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): threatened
Urgency: Flash
(SEAPA/IFEX) - A reporter's house was set on fire for a second time by unknown persons on 17 August 2007, just a week after the first arson attack occurred.
On 10 August, a blaze had partly destroyed the house of Phon Phat, a reporter for the "Chbas Ka" ("Accurate") newspaper in the western Pursat province.
A day before the fire, an anonymous person called Phon Phat on his telephone, saying, "A 'gift' will be offered for your report on illegal logging activities in Pursat."
Fortunately, Phon Phat and his family escaped unhurt on both occasions.
SEAPA joins its partner, the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), in strongly condemning the latest criminal act against the journalist, which is an obvious attempt at intimidation, if not a direct threat to his and his family's lives.
"CAPJ considers this criminal act a threat to press freedom that cannot be tolerated," the organisation said in an 18 August media statement, urging the authorities to seriously investigate the case and bring the culprits to justice.
The Cambodian media has been threatened against reporting on illegal logging since the 5 June government ban on the United Kingdom-based Global Witness report that alleged top civil servants had plundered the country's forests (see IFEX alerts of 20, 19, 15 and 6 June 2007).
Journalists who had defied the official ban and reported the environmental watchdog's allegations have faced severe consequences for performing their duty to the public. The management of the bilingual daily "Cambodge Soir" closed the newspaper two days after firing its news editor, Soren Seelow, on 10 June, while Radio Free Asia reporter Lem Pichpisey had to seek refuge in neighbouring Thailand on 17 June after receiving an anonymous death threat by telephone.
MORE INFORMATION:
For further information, contact Roby Alampay, Executive Director, or Chuah Siew Eng, Alerts Coordinator, at SEAPA, 538/1 Samsen Road, Dusit, Bangkok, 10300 Thailand, tel: +662 243 5579, fax: +662 244 8749, e-mail: sieweng@seapa.org, seapa@seapabkk.org, Internet: http://www.seapabkk.org
On 10 August, a blaze had partly destroyed the house of Phon Phat, a reporter for the "Chbas Ka" ("Accurate") newspaper in the western Pursat province.
A day before the fire, an anonymous person called Phon Phat on his telephone, saying, "A 'gift' will be offered for your report on illegal logging activities in Pursat."
Fortunately, Phon Phat and his family escaped unhurt on both occasions.
SEAPA joins its partner, the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), in strongly condemning the latest criminal act against the journalist, which is an obvious attempt at intimidation, if not a direct threat to his and his family's lives.
"CAPJ considers this criminal act a threat to press freedom that cannot be tolerated," the organisation said in an 18 August media statement, urging the authorities to seriously investigate the case and bring the culprits to justice.
The Cambodian media has been threatened against reporting on illegal logging since the 5 June government ban on the United Kingdom-based Global Witness report that alleged top civil servants had plundered the country's forests (see IFEX alerts of 20, 19, 15 and 6 June 2007).
Journalists who had defied the official ban and reported the environmental watchdog's allegations have faced severe consequences for performing their duty to the public. The management of the bilingual daily "Cambodge Soir" closed the newspaper two days after firing its news editor, Soren Seelow, on 10 June, while Radio Free Asia reporter Lem Pichpisey had to seek refuge in neighbouring Thailand on 17 June after receiving an anonymous death threat by telephone.
MORE INFORMATION:
For further information, contact Roby Alampay, Executive Director, or Chuah Siew Eng, Alerts Coordinator, at SEAPA, 538/1 Samsen Road, Dusit, Bangkok, 10300 Thailand, tel: +662 243 5579, fax: +662 244 8749, e-mail: sieweng@seapa.org, seapa@seapabkk.org, Internet: http://www.seapabkk.org
2 comments:
The placement of this article is very interesting. Another article just below this one shows a picture of military police burning villagers' homes.
There is little doubt that this journalist's home was burnt by those people in the position of power and security. They're probably military police personnel under the command, or on the payroll, of the illegal logging company boss.
This is to show that in the 21st century these powerful people can still get away with murder in broad daylight and remain above the law in Cambodia.
Welcome to Cambodia, country of corruption, murder, greed, and uncivilized law...ok, no law at all. In the next corruption index, Cambodia will probably be lower than before.
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