Hang Chakra could be freed soon

Hang Chakra (Photo: Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

31 March 2010
By I.N. and A.L.G.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Alain de Veng
Click here to read the article in French

The Editor-in-chief of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper should be among the group of prisoners who will be pardoned during the Cambodian New year. He already served more than 2/3 of his sentence.

Jailed since 26 July 2009, Hang Chakra could be freed soon, Heng Hak, the general director of the prison department, told Cambodge Soir on Wednesday 31 March.

“After receiving a letter from Hang Chakra’s family, the minister of Justice asked the prison department to provide a report on the situation of the prisoner and on his behavior in jail,” Heng Hak said.

“I wrote in favor of his freedom since he already served 2/3 of his jail sentence,” Heng Hak added.

The release proposal must be reviewed by the Phnom Penh municipal court, the minister of Justice, and the Council of Ministers before it will be signed by King Sihamoni.

“I don’t know how much time it will take, but a release is foreseeable at the Khmer New Year,” Hang Chakra said.

The Cambodian New Year celebration will take place on 14, 15 and 16 April.

Um Sarin, President of the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), is happy to hear the news. “Most likely, it will improve Cambodia’s image with the international opinion,” he said.

On 19 February of last year, the Reporters Without Border NGO called on Hun Xen to look into the jailing of Hang Chakra who was sentenced to one-year of jail time for reports accusing Sok An’s entourage of corruption

Khieu Kanharith, the minister of Information and spokesman for the government, indicated that he was personally in favor for the release of Hang Chakra and he noted that the case was complicated because it involved a “personal affair” between Sok An and Hang Chakra.

Yim Sovann, spokesman for the SRP in which the Khmer Machas Srok is leaning to, asked the justice system to also release people who were sentenced due to land disputes.

“After releasing Hang Chakra, the government must stop blocking the journalist’s freedom to speak and write,” Yim Sovann said.

Chan Saveth, a representative of the Adhoc human rights NGO, also asked the government not to use the judicial system to resolve “personal differences.”

On 26 July 2009, Hang Chakra was sentenced in absentia to one year of jail time and he was ordered to pay 1 million riels ($250) in fine after he was charged with “defamation” and “distribution of false information.” He was arrested on that same day in a rented house in Battambang.