Opposition, media plead for release of journalists

Newspaper publisher Hang Chakra was jailed earlier this year. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Chrann Chamroeun and Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post

"It is just a statement, which has no power on the judicial system."

CAMBODIAN media groups as well as opposition lawmakers have urged authorities to release two journalists who were jailed amid controversy earlier this year.

Representatives from 50 Cambodian news organisations issued a statement calling for the release of Hang Chakra, publisher of the opposition-aligned Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, and freelance journalist Ros Sokhet, said Pen Samitthy, president of the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ).

“We are calling on the Cambodian government, under the intelligent leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen, to request the King to pardon the two jailed journalists,” said Pen Samitthy, who is also the editor-in-chief of the Rasmey Kampuchea newspaper.

In a separate letter to the National Assembly, 16 parliamentarians with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party also urged the Ministry of Justice to take action.

Hang Chakra was convicted in June of spreading disinformation after publishing a series of stories accusing officials of corruption. Ros Sokhet was convicted of disinformation charges in November after a court ruled that he sent disparaging text messages to CTN anchor Soy Sopheap.

A government official defended the journalists’ convictions Monday and downplayed the CCJ’s demands.

“It is just a statement, which has no power or influence on the judicial system to force them to reverse the courts’ decisions,” said Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan. “The court has made the right decision to find them guilty.”

Previous appeals from journalists’ organisations, opposition parliamentarians and even King Norodom Sihamoni have so far failed to reverse the convictions. The King has the power to grant pardons under the Cambodian constitution, but a sub-decree stipulates that the Prime Minister must issue a formal request before amnesty can be granted.

Meanwhile, Ros Sokhet has written that he “regrets” sending the text messages to Soy Sopheap, according to a copy of the letter given to the Post.

In the letter, he says he never believed the messages, which appeared to allege corruption, would land him in prison.

“I wholeheartedly inform all of you that I had no intention to publicise the allegations in any newspapers, as they were just rumours,” Ros Sokhet wrote. “I am very regretful for those messages.”

Rights groups and journalists’ groups have criticised Cambodian authorities, citing a lack of press freedom in the Kingdom.

“Cambodia does not have a free media in the true sense of the word,” a briefing paper on freedom of expression in the press released this year by local rights group Licadho stated.

In its Press Freedom Ranking this year, international press watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia 117th out of 174 countries.

Increasing number of lawsuits against journalists in 2009

Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) reported that in 2009, the number of lawsuits against journalists had increased by 8 cases in comparison to 2008. The number of journalists arrested has also increased in 2009. 2009 saw the arrest and jailing of 31 journalists, 2 of them were charged with defamation and disinformation. At the CCJ’s meeting on 26 December 2009, the CCJ noted that this year, there are 10 lawsuit cases against journalists, i.e. 8 more cases than 2008 where only 2 lawsuits against journalists took place. Also according to the CCJ, in 2009, 31 journalists were arrested, i.e. double the 2008 number where only 14 journalists were arrested by the authority.

Deum Ampil Media Center claims that it is independent and neutral (sic!)

Click on the statements in Khmer to zoom in

Friday 30 October 2009
KI-Media "puzzled" observation

In a letter published by Deum Ampil news (DAP) on Friday 30 October, detailing threats received by Soy Sopheap, this news agency claimed:

“Deum Ampil Media center is an independent and neutral institution that serves the interest of the society and the nation in general without political and religious discrimination whatsoever.”

In its 30 October 2009 edition, The Cambodia Daily reported that Ros Sokhet, a freelance journalist, was arrested for questioning by the Ministry of Interior police on Wednesday, following Soy Sopheap’s complaint about anonymous text message threats sent to him. The Cambodia Daily also reported that Soy Sopheap “is well known for his close relationship with the government”.

Furthermore, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court – a court known to be easily swayed by government leaders – put Ros Sokhet on immediate trial on Thursday, just one day after Ros Sokhet’s arrest. The trial had to be adjourned as the accused did not have a lawyer to defend him.

On Friday, DAP also published a communiqué issued by the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) led by Pen Samithy, the editor of the pro-CPP Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper, regarding the arrest of Ros Sokhet. It is interesting to read the following statements in the CCJ communiqué:

“The Club of Cambodian Journalists will follow up with attention [Ros Sokhet’s case] as an neutral institution that serves the common interest of journalists.

The Club of Cambodian Journalists is an independent organization with the mission of serving the interest and defending journalists, as well as raising press freedom and strengthening the journalism profession in Cambodia”

We couldn't help but noticing the coincidence in some of the wordings used in the two statements above. While it is impossible to tell who, between DAP and the CCJ, issued their statement first, it appears to us that the CCJ statement sounds quite reasonable, and if, by chance, the CCJ statement was issued first, it looks like somebody at DAP news tried more or less parroting the CCJ statement, but with a lesser degree of flair and tact. On the other hand, if DAP issued its statement first, it looks like its claim of "independence and neutrality" was shattered by The Cambodia Daily's observation.

Health of Jailed Editor Good, But Wife Worries

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
13 June 2008

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer

Opposition editor Dam Sith called his arrest unfair and an abuse of Cambodian law, and he appealed to the courts to release him on bail, a journalist who visited him in prison said Friday.

Dam Sith is being detained in a cell 4 meters wide and 15 meters long, said Puy Kea, a member of the Club of Cambodian Journalists, five of whose members visited the editor Friday morning.

Dam Sith has been in jail since Sunday on charges of defamation and disinformation, following the publication in Moneaksekar Khmer a speech by opposition leader Sam Rainsy that accused Foreign Minister Hor Namhong of being a former member of the Khmer Rouge.

Hor Namhong has denied such accusations in the past and filed suit against the paper April 25.

Wife Meas Chan Kanha said she worried about a stomach ailment of Dam Sith that requires daily medicine the prison cannot provide.

Kuy Bun Sorn, chief of Cambodian prisons, said Friday Dam Sith was detained with criminals of various charges, including murder, terrorism, assassination and rape.

Cambodia 'not a perfect place' for journalists, says union

Fri, 16 Nov 2007
DPA

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Murders of Cambodian journalists may have decreased in recent years, but the threat is increasingly becoming one of legal intimidation, the country's most powerful journalist union said Friday. The Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) made the statement at a two-day meeting of local and international journalists, government officials and representatives of the Konrad Adenhauer Foundation in this northern city, some 400 kilometres from the capital.

"Cambodia is not a perfect place for journalists. There were six journalists killed between 1993 and 1997. In recent years, while there have been no killings, arrests, threats and legal intimidation have become of increasing concern," the CCJ said.

"The trend against press freedom has turned from violence to legal means as politicians and others become more sophisticated."

A spokesman for the CCJ said while the 2003 shooting of royalist radio journalist Chour Chet Tharith was perhaps the last murder of a journalist, in 2006 alone there were seven lawsuits and arrests and 12 serious threats recorded against CCJ member journalists.

Ministry of Information secretary of state Srey Channy countered by saying that Cambodia respected press freedom, but no journalist had the right to abuse their position for personal or financial gain.

"Press freedom without responsibility can also put democracy in danger. Therefore I appeal to Cambodian journalists to stick to the principals of journalism and perform their duties ethically and professionally," Channy told the meeting.

Cambodia recently decriminalized defamation but it still carries hefty financial penalties.

Cambodian journalists urged to join fight against corruption [-Will pro-CPP newspaper dare expose CPP corruption all the way to the top?]

Tue, 23 Oct 2007
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's most powerful journalism organisation has weighed into the battle against the country's endemic corruption, urging journalists to expose graft and announcing large cash prizes in a statement published Tuesday. Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) president Pen Samitthy published details of the competition in the country's largest selling Khmer-language daily, Rasmei Kampuchea. Samitthy is also the editor-in-chief of that newspaper.

"To effectively fight against corruption, we need the support of the media," Samitty wrote in his prologue. "Please, all journalists, expose corruption. We must all respond, not just the government."

He also called on the Cambodian National Assembly and the international community to support local journalists who dared to root out corruption at all levels of society.

A first prize of 1,100 dollars plus a trophy were on offer for the best anti-corruption investigative journalism piece, and all stories must be submitted anonymously, Samitthy wrote.

The CCJ boasts more than a thousand members and receives support from the US embassy and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation amongst others. Rasmei Kampuchea is viewed as being close to the ruling Cambodian People's Party by media analysts.

Cambodia was ranked at 162 out of 180 countries by Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International in its recently released 2007 index. Rampant graft has been blamed for the country's failure to attract more much-needed foreign direct investment.

Cambodian journalists decry Japanese journalist killing in Myanmar

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Phnom Penh (dpa) - Cambodia's most powerful journalist union on Tuesday condemned the killing of a Japanese colleague during the Myanmar pro-democracy demonstrations and called for strong action.

The Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) released a statement expressing its condolences for Ken Jinagai, 50, who was apparently gunned down by Myanmar troops while filming for Japanese agency APF on September 27.

"This killing is very regretable and shocking," the CCJ said in the statement.

"The CCJ strongly condemns the killers of this journalist and appeals to the Myanmar government to take action to investigate the incident clearly and send the killers to trial to find justice for the victim and his family."

The CCJ boasts hundreds of members and is by far the largest journalist union in Cambodia.

Viewed as close to, but far from dependent on, the Cambodian government by media analysts, the CCJ's criticism is yet another indication of growing indignation amongst various sections of the community within the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) at Myanmar's military junta's conduct.

The 10-member ASEAN bloc consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It is the most powerful diplomatic and trading bloc in the region. Myanmar joined ASEAN in 1997.