Dam Sith (wearing blue suit) taken away by military police in Phnom Penh.Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders condemns the arrest of Dam Sith, the publisher of the Khmer-language daily Moneaksekar Khmer (“Khmer Conscience”), on 8 June on charges of libel and false information that were brought against him by foreign minister Hor Namhong. Dam Sith is also an opposition candidate in next month’s parliamentary elections.
“Dam Sith’s arrest violates both press freedom and political pluralism, and we call for his release, especially as Cambodia decriminalised defamation in 2006,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The government must let journalists cover both the elections and the trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders freely. Full light has not yet been shed on the involvement of some current politicians in the Khmer Rouge regime. Although this needs to be done, it should not be used as a pretext for settling political scores.”
Aged 39, Dam Sith was arrested in Phnom Penh on the morning of 8 June on a warrant issued by judge Chhay Kong, who then ordered him placed in pretrial custody after he had been questioned for several hours.
He has been charged with libelling the foreign minister and the economy minister by publishing an interview in which Sam Rainsy, the main opposition leader and head of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), accused them of collaborating with the Khmer Rouge. Sam Rainsy was not arrested.
The complaint was brought by the foreign minister, who has successfully sued people in the past after they accused him of Khmer Rouge links. Information minister Khieu Kanharith yesterday said he asked the court to free Dam Sith on bail pending the outcome of the investigation.
Dam Sith is a member of the SRP steering committee and an SRP candidate for a Phnom Penh district in the parliamentary elections due to be held on 27 July.
In a separate development, the information minister on 28 May ordered the closure of Angkor Râtha, a radio station located on the banks of the Mekong river in the eastern province of Kratié, on 28 May on the grounds that it sold air time to the SRP and the Norodom Ranariddh Party, another opposition party.
The opposition parties, including the Human Rights Party, described the closure as “abusive” and “illegal”, and as a violation of the constitutional right to information. Reporters Without Borders calls on the government to allow the station to resume broadcasting immediately.
“Dam Sith’s arrest violates both press freedom and political pluralism, and we call for his release, especially as Cambodia decriminalised defamation in 2006,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The government must let journalists cover both the elections and the trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders freely. Full light has not yet been shed on the involvement of some current politicians in the Khmer Rouge regime. Although this needs to be done, it should not be used as a pretext for settling political scores.”
Aged 39, Dam Sith was arrested in Phnom Penh on the morning of 8 June on a warrant issued by judge Chhay Kong, who then ordered him placed in pretrial custody after he had been questioned for several hours.
He has been charged with libelling the foreign minister and the economy minister by publishing an interview in which Sam Rainsy, the main opposition leader and head of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), accused them of collaborating with the Khmer Rouge. Sam Rainsy was not arrested.
The complaint was brought by the foreign minister, who has successfully sued people in the past after they accused him of Khmer Rouge links. Information minister Khieu Kanharith yesterday said he asked the court to free Dam Sith on bail pending the outcome of the investigation.
Dam Sith is a member of the SRP steering committee and an SRP candidate for a Phnom Penh district in the parliamentary elections due to be held on 27 July.
In a separate development, the information minister on 28 May ordered the closure of Angkor Râtha, a radio station located on the banks of the Mekong river in the eastern province of Kratié, on 28 May on the grounds that it sold air time to the SRP and the Norodom Ranariddh Party, another opposition party.
The opposition parties, including the Human Rights Party, described the closure as “abusive” and “illegal”, and as a violation of the constitutional right to information. Reporters Without Borders calls on the government to allow the station to resume broadcasting immediately.
4 comments:
Mr. Ho Nam Hong should withdraw your case before the court! Actually you are guilty by association with Khmers Rouges. It is easy for people to believe that you were one of them, because you went back to Cambodia after the fall of Phnom Penh and the Khmer Rouges took over Cambodia. On top of it, you are survivor and part of the current government of Cambodia that was originally created by Viet Nam Army. You don't want to be in prison, tortured or killed under Khmers Rouges. So shame on you if now you want to put people in jail just because they believe that you were Khmers Rouges like Hun Sen, Heng Sam Rin, Chea Sim. Are those people like Dam Sith, who repeat somebody are guiltier than you or Hun Sen, Chea Sim Heng Sam Rin who were real Khmers Rouges and now Youn puppets? Please, Mr. Ho Nam Hong, if you were human being, withdraw your case before the court. Let be fair and just and have some sense of human being
this is called the freedom of the arrest.
Scamming people is not a freedom.
I appeal to all the foreign diplomats to look carafully the fassade of democracy in Cambodian wright now. Khmer Farmer
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