Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Military Court Asked to Scrutinize Newspaper Article


By Kuch Naren and Alex Willemyns
The Cambodia Daily, December 3, 2013

A senior official at the Council of Ministers said Monday that he has sent a request to the Military Court to investigate an article published in the opposition-aligned Moneaksekar Khmer newspaper.

Phay Siphan, who serves as a CPP secretary of state and spokesman at the Council of Ministers, said he has asked the court and the Defense Ministry to investigate “the meaning” of an article about a speech delivered by CNRP Vice President Kem Sokha during a trip to Australia.

Mr. Siphan said he had sent the request to the military after failing to receive an explanation from the newspaper about the article, which accused members of the armed forces of surrounding Phnom Penh on the night of the July national election to manipulate the result.

The article was published in Moneaksekar Khmer on November 13 and is headlined Kem Sokha: The Massive Event of Election Result Fraud and the Dispatching of Armed Forces to Surround Phnom Penh and the Robbery of the Victory of the Cambodian People.
“We want the editor-in-chief of Moneaksekar Khmer to clearly explain about the headlines, whose comments those are and the purpose of the article that raised the idea of armed forces surrounding Phnom Penh and robbing victory from Cambodians,” Mr. Siphan wrote in a letter to the newspaper’s editors dated November 15.

Mr. Siphan said that a deadline of November 30 had passed without the newspaper providing a written response as to whether the views in the article were those of Mr. Sokha or of Dam Sith, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper and a CNRP lawmaker-elect for Phnom Penh.

“We gave them three weeks to explain but we didn’t receive any written explanation or verification concerning the headlines or whose comments those were,” Mr. Siphan said.

“We exercised our right by sending this case to our lawyers to submit a complaint with the Military Court because we have a right to know who said this.”

Mr. Siphan said he was enforcing the government’s “right to know” by passing the case to military authorities.

“The complaint filed with the Military Court is not a defamation or disinformation case. We just need the editor-in-chief of the newspaper to explain things,” he said.

Mr. Sith, who has faced a slew of defamation and disinformation lawsuits brought by the government in his time as editor of Moneaksekar Khmer, said the article was a summary​​ of​​ an interview with Mr. Sokha uploaded to YouTube.

“I already sent [Mr. Siphan] the video footage, so I wonder why he keeps asking for a written letter,” Mr. Sith said Monday.

“This is a serious threat to journalists at the Moneaksekar Khmer newspaper,” Mr. Sith said, adding that he believed Mr. Siphan harbored “ill-intentions” by involving the military in journalism.

“The article was not reporting about military secrets or anything that could threaten national security,” he said.

In the 20-minute video interview, which was recorded by a Cambodian-Australian community television show during the CNRP deputy leader’s visit to Melbourne last month, Mr. Sokha claims that an NGO had on election night informed the CNRP that they had won 76 of the 123 National Assembly seats.

“We asked our officials to go out to have a look, and then we saw that they had dispatched troops everywhere throughout Phnom Penh’s streets,” Mr. Sokha says in the interview.

“[CNRP President] Sam Rainsy and I thought that they would arrest us since we had won, so we left to stay at an embassy—the embassy of a powerful country.”

“This was a massive event,” Mr. Sokha adds, accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen’s CPP government of stealing the opposition’s election victory.

“Everybody knows the CNRP won and the CPP lost. The CPP knows clearly that it lost, because they robbed [votes.] Nobody knows better than them,” Mr. Sokha said.

Sok Sam Oeun, a prominent lawyer who heads the Cambodian Defenders Project, a legal aid NGO, said that he thought the jurisdiction of the Military Court in investigating a matter of journalism could be brought into question.

“Under law, the Military Court can investigate any cases related to military crime but I don’t think defamation or an information case like this is a military crime,” he said.

Mr. Sokha is currently in the U.S. on a trip to meet with Cambodian-Americans in an effort to raise funds for the CNRP’s protests in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh later this month.

His daughter, Kem Monovithya, who also serves as a member of the CNRP’s permanent committee, said that the issue raised by Mr. Siphan does not concern Mr. Sokha.

“It’s between the newspaper and Phay Siphan,” Ms. Monovithya said. “Whatever he said in public in Australia has been available on his Facebook page and YouTube for some time already, and is available for anyone to go and watch.”

24 comments:

Anonymous said...



To be fair why doesn’t this Military Court ask to scrutinize the stealing of the ballots?


Anonymous said...

Phay Siphan is a barking dog!

Anonymous said...



Phay Siphan is Ah Hun Sen’s dog!
He is careless about Cambodia future.
He will be castrated just like his boss, Hun Sen.


Anonymous said...



Who pay the so-called military?

Justice for Chuth Wuthy_Chea Vichea_Koh Pich killing field

Anonymous said...

This is the way CRIMINAL CPP will do to the opposition if they fail to remove this CRIMINAL CPP who's careless about Khmer peoples and its country. CRIMINAL CPP only care about MONEY&POWER, nothing else.

Keep submitting your DUMB brian to the Vietcong, sooner or later your fate will be just like Khmer peoples in Kampuchea Krom. Prove me wrong - Ah Chhker Yuon Phai Siphorm & Ah Chhker Yuon Mike.

Anonymous said...

Do not worry too much Mr. Kem Sokha!
you have Khmer people behind you.
Everything you've told khmer people
that CPP manipulated the election result was the fact. If those scumbags intimidate you, your supporters must take that matter into their own hands and that is to rise up and rebel against that stain government out power once and for all.

Anonymous said...


The election was robbery by CPP no question about that!
The face is CNRP win the election.

Anonymous said...


Hay ah Phay Siphan go to hell yourn dog.

Anonymous said...

Phay Siphan is good dog, he barks when his boss orders.

Anonymous said...

MR. PHAY SIPHAN, PLEASE GO BACK TO LIVE IN LONG BEACH AND RESUME YOUR CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS.

Anonymous said...

For me, if Viet or Siam Samlab Khmer that is normal because we are the different nation from each other but when Khmer server for Viet like ah Pay Siphom I will never forgive this dog at all. Down ah OSP, Ah Couy Me ray.

Anonymous said...

Also we the court also investigate why some military personal has been engaged multiple voting, which is illegal and can those resposible brough to justice and for distorting the election results in favour of CPP and despite using miliatry resources for CPP election campaigne is this being investigated along side this claim? For those military officer who invoke violents and killing of innocent people can that be investigated and brought to justice...?

Anonymous said...

Les mlmilitaires qu ils étaient encerclés phnom penh le 28 o7 2013 sont les bandits, car cpp a confirmé que ces ne sont pas les militaires khmer! Dans ce cas hun sen qu il est quelqu un incapable d être dirige le cambodge, car hun sen a laissé les bandits encerclent phnom penh sans réagi.

Anonymous said...

Hun/CPP/NEC and Py see phon are VC's slaves. Their evil tactics are plentiful. This is the way they operate creating one problem after another for khmers to fight among khmers and to forget about their evil planned to take over the whole srok khmer e,g while you are busy at each other throat, they are busy robbing from our people, land and sea. Please wake up everyone, don't let the VC fool us no more and say enough is enough. Kem Sokha, Sam and many others are khmers compatriots and don't let traitor like Py Se Phon do this to us again and again. It is time to catch him and this time don't let him go. Make sure he pay for his crimes being committed to our poor innocents like Chea Vichea, Chut Vuthy. Pisith Pilica, many other journalists and activists (fed to crocodile by them crooks of the VC controlling freaks). This time, we must stand up told and look up high until the job is done.

Anonymous said...

HUN SEN is releasing another Vietnamese trick to crack down the opposition again such as Kem Sokha or Sam Rain Sy, HUN SEN has two ways to crack down the opposition and Cambodian people, one HUN SEN uses Law to sue opposition and Cambodian people and another one using guns to kill on back behind Opposition and Cambodian people then saying that some did it not CPP did it. This is not a new styles this is old styles which HUN SEN always reply to Cambodian people

Anonymous said...

It would be nice for court to subpoena the chief editor...and the truth will be revealed... Who robbed the election and which troop had gathered around the Capital city during the election day... Please, do bring all the complaints and show to the public, Mr. Phay Siphan...! We, the people of Cambodia are waiting to see your hearing in Court of justice.

Koun Khmer

Anonymous said...

I appeal all Cambodian, you all no need to waste time to listen and see what HUN SEN said, or what HUN SEN supporters sue or want to do. What you all need to do, just do like Thai people even worst than Thai demostration if you all want to have peace, freedom, justice, and democracy and good for living, if you all will not stand up and change HUN SEN now, next 5 years, it will be worst, HUN SEN and Vietnamese will use HUN SEN law to abuse us, so we can not say, talk, and see, or criticize if we will do, HUN SEN will use HUN SEN law to crack down us, now I appeal all Cambodian must stand up and do the big and mass demonstration like Thai people now

Anonymous said...

HUN SEN is worst than Pol Pot, Pol Pot killed Cambodian directly, HUN SEN is killing Cambodian people indirectly using Law, court, and Vietnamese polices and said some one did it not HUN SEN did it, and Pol Pot did protect Cambodian land, natural resources good, whereas HUN SEN is destroying everything fish, land, forestry, mineral, wildlife ect

Anonymous said...

Cette fois si,il faut manifesté jusqu'au bout, car avec un gouvernement militaire de hun sen et youn ils sont plus horribles que le diable, ne le faire plus le cadeau pour ces voyous.
une systeme de la révolution de Mr ghandi il ne Pas utilisé avec les youns, car la mentalité de youn et de britannique sont différents.
Youns n ont jamais connus la fierté, ou quelque choses que les humaines qu ils ses détectent, car cette race est plus pure qu une vrai sangsue.

Anonymous said...

Phey C PHOM, you need to come back to Long BITCH and make your career as dish WASHER.

You do not deserve to be there to confuse people. No one believe what you said except Hoon Xen's dogs.

Stop barking! I know you want to be a good Hoon Xen DOG!

Anonymous said...

ah phay xiphorm
ah kem xokha
sot tae ah jeung PRO
PRO joy mray heuy
niyeay ort dork dong-hoem teh
min khof 2 ah momeaj xovannara!

Anonymous said...

What's a mix up rule of laws in scamafia under Hanoi's dogs Cpp Hun sen! Don't they have separation between civilians court and military's court? What's a charge for this situation!? Defamation will be contradicted with free speech or free press,so what is this all about? Phay Siphan was trying to create something out of nothing,this stupid mouth piece of Cpp is trying to divert all attention from election irregularity that all protesters courageous demanding and determine to find out the truth,and the truth was Cpp had been cheating/stealing this election by using enforces to intimidated after they knew that they lost an election past July 28,2013.Please separate the military's court from civilians' court.If anything Sokha said or does, has nothing to do military,if Sokha said or does some thing wrong civilian court is the place to sue him, not military court.

Kmenhwatt

Anonymous said...

តើសង្គ្រោះជាតិពួកឯងស្អីដែរ? សង្គ្រោះជាតិខ្មែរឬ សង្គ្រោះជាតិយួនទេ? មិនចាំបាច់ពួកឯង និយាយពេកបោកប្រាស់ទេ មើលតែលទ្ធិផលទៅ ឃើញហើយ ធ្វើនយោបាយជិត២ទសវត្សហើយ បំរើនរណា សាសន៍ណាជាអ្នកចំណេញ សាសន៍ណាជាអ្នកខាត? ពួកឯងឆ្លើយបានទេ មេពួកឯងបានលុយប៉ុន្មានពីពួកអាផ្តាច់ការនិងចិនយួនហើយយកទៅលាក់ឯណាខ្លះ?

Anonymous said...

Creating one problem after another, this is what they are good, really. creating Pol Pot to be agianst Lon Nol and creating chea sim, hang surin and hun sen (gang of three) to be against pol pot and creating a nation full of corruption be against the gang of three. Right now, everything is under both VC and CH controlled, e.g VC owed too much money to the CH and USSR and has no money to pay back accept from stealling and robbing form cambodia e,g land grabbing, land concession, leasing ankho wat and kosh tral for 99 years etc. Hun has no choice but to follow their order at all cost or else. It is time for international community to do something about cambodia before it is too late.