Moneaksekar Khmer set to publish again

Dam Sith's arrest (Photo: AFP)

Monday, 25 January 2010
Sam Rith and Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

THE publisher of opposition-aligned Moneaksekar Khmer newspaper has been granted permission to relaunch the daily more than six months after he ceased publication in response to the threat of criminal prosecution.

Dam Sith, the paper’s publisher and editor in chief, said he received permission from the Ministry of Information on Friday and expected publication to restart next month.

“I am now preparing relaunch,” he said Sunday, adding that the new-look daily would maintain its strong opposition stance. “I will keep the same position that was published before in order to keep our readership,” he said.

In July, government lawyers filed defamation, disinformation and incitement charges against Dam Sith for a series of articles criticising government officials. Dam Sith then wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen with a “sincere apology” and promised to stop publishing in exchange for a pardon.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith confirmed Sunday that he offered permission for the reopening of Moneaksekar Khmer, but said the move was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Before, he asked us to stop publishing the newspaper, and now he has asked us to reopen it, so there is not any problem,” he said.

Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann said Dam Sith, who also sits on the party’s Standing Committee, would stand firm in his intent to publish the truth, regardless of any government pressure.

“I think that SRP leaders are brave enough to continue their struggle for justice and a society that is clean,” he said.

Moeun Chhean Nariddh, director of the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies, said the relaunch of Moneaksekar Khmer would go some way towards filling the “information vacuum” that exists in the pro-government media sector.

But he said that last year’s closure amounted to a “serious blow” to opposition media that would inevitably make publishers and editors cautious.

“I don’t believe Moneaksekar Khmer will recover and regain its full confidence,” he said.

Cambodian prime minister seems bent on stamping out all opposition to his rule [-Isn't this how dictators behave?]

General Strongman Hun Xen

Human Rights Watch says Hun Sen uses violence, the courts and money to control the nation's political system

July 22, 2009
By Jonathan Manthorpe
Vancouver Sun (BC, Canada)

For 16 years, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has worked to dismantle the democratic institutions established by the United Nations in 1993 and to restore the untrammeled power he enjoyed as Vietnam's proxy leader in the 1980s.

Now, it seems, success is within his grasp.

But his dogged determination to root out even the most insignificant and unthreatening pockets of opposition has led to the publication of three critical reports in the past few days.

At least nine journalists, opposition members of parliament, lawyers and government critics have had politically motivated charges of defamation or the dissemination of disinformation lodged against them in the past few months.

This could be said to be a less drastic fate than has befallen Hun Sen's political opponents in the past. Many have been murdered by unidentified gunmen.

A statement a few days ago from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia warned the use of the courts to silence opposition or critical voices "is a serious threat to democratic development which may undermine the efforts of the last 16 years to rebuild a tolerant and pluralistic environment in Cambodia."

In another report, Brad Adams of New York-based Human Rights Watch said: "Through violence, threats and money politics, Hun Sen already controls almost every aspect of Cambodia's politics. Yet his efforts to silence dissent seem endless. Why does he seem to wake up every day looking for enemies to persecute? Will this ever end?"

And the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said in its report, "The actions of the government in the past few months indicate that it is directly and systematically trying to dissolve the main opposition party [the Sam Rainsy Party] by filing unfounded criminal lawsuits against its leaders or forcing its members and supporters to join [Hun Sen's] Cambodian People's Party."

It is a situation full of bleak ironies. Not least of these is that Hun Sen is squeezing the last bit of life out of Cambodia's democratic institutions as, after years of tortuous negotiations, the trials are proceeding of some of the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime, which murdered about 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s.

It was the Vietnamese-led ouster of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 that brought Hun Sen to power.

When he failed to win United Nations-imposed elections in 1993, Hun Sen threatened civil war until he was brought into a coalition with the royalist party government of Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

Hun Sen dissolved that coalition in 1997 by launching a bloody coup, and since then his CPP has won overwhelming majorities in 2003 and 2008 elections.

But these victories do not appear to be complete enough for Hun Sen, whose party now has 90 seats in the 123-seat parliament.

Having disposed of the royalists, Hun Sen has mounted a sustained attack on the main opposition party, named for its leader, Sam Rainsy, which has 26 seats.

Rainsy himself fled into exile in 2005 after accusing Hun Sen of being behind the murder of four Sam Rainsy Party members the previous year. He has returned to Cambodia, but was accused of defamation earlier this year.

Meanwhile, two of Rainsy's members of the National Assembly have had their parliamentary immunity lifted so they can face charges of criminal defamation.

On July 7, the lawyer representing the two Sam Rainsy Party members resigned and defected to the ruling CPP after being sued for defamation by Hun Sen and threatened with disbarment. The parliamentarians have so far been unable to find a new lawyer brave enough to represent them.

In late June, the owner of an opposition newspaper Machas Srok was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of disinformation after publishing articles about government corruption.

The owner of another newspaper, Moneaksekar Khmer, on July 10 closed the paper rather than face criminal prosecution for criticizing government officials.

In an interview with Radio Australia earlier this month, Sam Rainsy Party member of parliament Son Chhay said: "I think we will quiet down for a while. We are not going to raise the issue of corruption. We are not going to speak about land-grabbing. We are not going to talk about the corrupt court system."

jmanthorpe@vancouversun.com

Government Pulls Out Legal Weapons Against Dissent

By Robert Carmichael – Asia Media Forum*

"At the SRP headquarters, opposition MP Son Chhay believes there are a number of reasons for the government’s action against critics. First, the ruling party is worried about the social unrest that the effects of the global economic crisis could spark among younger Cambodians who are hard put finding jobs. Second, he says, there is dissatisfaction within the CPP over what critics call Hun Sen’s autocratic style."

PHNOM PENH, Jul 20 (IPS) - These are tough times to be either a journalist or an opposition politician in Cambodia.

That is because the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen is cracking down on both the opposition-aligned media and politicians from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP).

In June, an editor of a newspaper affiliated with the SRP was jailed for a year for publishing a story the government objected to. The publisher of the newspaper ‘Moneaksekar Khmer’, was told this month that he would be sued after publishing a series of articles that the prosecutor said was designed to sow conflict between government ministers.

On the political front, two opposition members of parliament were stripped of their immunity and are being sued. Their lawyer recently quit their cases and the SRP and crossed over to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) after being told he would be sued.

Two other opposition MPs have been told they could have their immunity taken away too. Two NGOs have also received threats of lawsuits.

There are fears that this South-east Asian country’s democracy is under threat as the CPP -- which won more than two-thirds of the seats in the 2008 general election and which controls all the organs of state and the judiciary – moves against dissenters.

"We are being treated like the enemies of the state. It’s a crisis in this country," veteran opposition MP Son Chhay said.

But government spokesman Phay Siphan says the government is simply using the courts to target those people it considers to be spreading disinformation or threatening the country’s stability.

"According to the Constitution, everyone has the right to say anything they like," Phay Siphan said. "But the Constitution prescribes clearly that (people may not) abuse other people’s rights. So the government has to protect that."

That is cold comfort to local and international observers such as Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders, both of which have issued statements expressing concern about recent events. Human Rights Watch country specialist Sara Colm says recent events are a matter of "extreme concern".

"To have all of these different sectors of society effectively silenced is definitely a step backwards for the whole democratic process in Cambodia," Colm said, adding that the right to express views critical of the government is being eroded. "It’s a very worrying trend in Cambodia to see lawsuits filed and even criminal charges levied against people for simply doing their jobs."

In the legal action against the media, some noted that the prosecutors are using a law that allows journalists to be jailed for what they write. That is what has happened with Hang Chakra, the editor who in June began a one- year jail term after his newspaper ran a series of articles reporting that a senior government minister’s staff had committed corrupt acts.

But the law the government ought to use in such cases is the 1995 Press Law, critics say. Local human rights group Licadho says the Press Law’s provisions do not permit the jailing of media professionals found to have breached its provisions. It states that "no person shall be arrested or subject to criminal charges as a result of expression of opinion".

So why did the government prosecutor use the older law in the case against Hang Chakra? Phay Siphan says that is a question for the prosecutor, not the government, to answer. But, he says, the information minister has recently said that he does not want to see media workers jailed for what they publish.

To critics, the CPP, which has never been known for being tolerant of criticism, has become even more thin-skinned lately.

"We totally 100 percent accept that criticism," Phay Siphan insisted. "But insulting – no. And misleading – no. Freedom of expression is different from insulting and misleading." He maintains that the government is simply balancing the right of expression against its duty to maintain law and order. It is "concerned about national security too'", he added.

At the SRP headquarters, opposition MP Son Chhay believes there are a number of reasons for the government’s action against critics. First, the ruling party is worried about the social unrest that the effects of the global economic crisis could spark among younger Cambodians who are hard put finding jobs. Second, he says, there is dissatisfaction within the CPP over what critics call Hun Sen’s autocratic style.

Son Chhay says Cambodia risks a reversal in its young democracy. To avoid that, he says donor nations, which pledged more than 950 U.S. million dollars to the Cambodian government this year, should pressure the government into making reforms.

"We don’t want to live lives like the North Korean people – we have suffered enough," he said of the kingdom’s traumatic decades of war and the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge.

But the government’s actions seem to be making many cautious about criticising it, for fear of being sued for disinformation, defamation or incitement. Son Chhay admits that official intimidation has led the opposition to conclude that these are bad times to speak out.

"We have no alternative," he said. "I think we will quiet down for a while. We are not going to speak too much. We are not going to raise the issue of corruption. We are not going to speak about landgrabbing. We are not going to talk about the corrupt court system."

It does not help that the judiciary is not entirely independent, which is why the government wins its court cases, he adds.

This explains why the publisher of ‘Moneaksekar Khmer’ tried to resolve his case as he did. Days after being told he would be sued for incitement and disinformation, Dam Sith wrote a grovelling letter of apology to Hun Sen begging forgiveness.

But in Dam Sith’s defence, he has seen what happens when the media and the CPP collide. Last year, Dam was jailed for a week for publishing a story that offended the foreign minister. Shortly before the 2008 general election, one of his journalists was shot dead – the tenth to be murdered since 1993. None of those murder cases has been solved, and they are unlikely to be.

In his letter, Dam Sith told the prime minister that he would cease publishing his newspaper if Hun Sen saw to it that the court case was dropped. The government lawyer who filed the case told the English-language ‘Phnom Penh Post’ on Jul. 10 that Hun Sen had instructed him to withdraw the complaints against Dam Sith.

The result is that the country’s non-CPP media just became even weaker. Licadho’s annual media report shows that the CPP effectively controls all eight of the nation’s TV stations, most of its radio stations, and by far the majority of the Khmer-language newspapers.

*Asia Media Forum (http:/www.theasiamediaforum.org)

Rights group condemns Cambodian "crackdown'

Jul 15, 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - A US-based human rights group on Wednesday demanded Cambodia's leaders end what it called a campaign of 'harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action' against government critics following a spate of court rulings apparently aimed at limiting free speech.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) had filed nine defamation and disinformation suits this year against journalists, opposition party members and civil society leaders.

'The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years,' the group's director, Brad Adams, said in a statement. 'Once again, Hun Sen is showing his true stripes by harassing and threatening to imprison peaceful critics of his increasingly authoritarian government.'

The group's demand came a day after Moeung Sonn, president of the non-profit Khmer Civilization Foundation, was sentenced in absentia to two years prison for disinformation, after he accused the government of damaging the historic Angkor Wat temple by installing lighting fixtures in the building's walls.

Moeung Sonn was in France at the time of the ruling.

Last week the publishers of Moneaksekar Khmer, an opposition-affiliated newspaper, closed operations after being threatened with legal action and forced to apologize for recent criticism of government officials, the statement said.

Two opposition lawmakers are expected to face trial for defamation in coming weeks after the CPP-dominated legislature voted to strip the pair of their parliamentary immunity.

Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said the Human Rights Watch statement was based on 'uninformed observations' about Cambodia's media and legal system and 'did not tell the whole story.'

'I appreciate their concern about freedom of speech, but they incorrectly mixed defamation with the other cases, which relate to misinformation and national security,' he said. 'The rule of law requires that the government can take people to court to judge whether they are right or wrong.'

Cambodia must stop harassing critics: rights group

A Cambodian girl stands amid a crowd of people during an event to mark the 60th Anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights in Phnom Penh. An international rights group has demanded Cambodia's rulers end a spate of legal action against critics, which it called the government's "harshest crackdown in years" on free speech. (AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — An international rights group has demanded Cambodia's rulers end a spate of legal action against critics, which it called the government's "harshest crackdown in years" on free speech.

New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged premier Hun Sen's government aimed to silence political opposition and critics with a recent "campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action."

"The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years," said the group's Asia director, Brad Adams, in a statement.

Cambodian authorities have lodged at least nine criminal defamation and disinformation complaints against journalists, members of parliament, lawyers and critics of the government since April.

Criminal defamation cases against two opposition lawmakers are expected to proceed over the next weeks, and opposition newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer closed operations Friday to avoid prosecution for criticising government officials.

"The space of opposition media and peaceful dissent is rapidly shrinking in Cambodia, especially now with the closure of one of Cambodia's last remaining opposition newspapers," Adams said.

Cambodian government officials were not immediately available for comment.

The UN's human rights office in Cambodia also issued a report last month warning the spate of lawsuits against critics could nurture "fear, frustration and anger, with the risk of leading to further conflict and violence".

Cambodia: End Assault on Opposition, Critics

Prime Minister Hun Sen Launches Harshest Crackdown in Years

July 14, 2009
Source: Human Rights Watch

"The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years. Once again, Hun Sen is showing his true stripes by harassing and threatening to imprison peaceful critics of his increasingly authoritarian government." - Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch

(New York) - The Cambodian government of Prime Minister Hun Sen should end its campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action aimed at consolidating its rule by silencing the political opposition and peaceful critics, Human Rights Watch said today.

In recent months, senior Cambodian government leaders and military officials have filed at least nine politically motivated criminal defamation and disinformation cases against journalists, opposition members of parliament, lawyers, and government critics.

"The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Once again, Hun Sen is showing his true stripes by harassing and threatening to imprison peaceful critics of his increasingly authoritarian government."

Government attempts to muzzle free expression have intensified in recent weeks:

• On June 22, 2009, the National Assembly voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of two of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party's (SRP) most active members, Mu Sochua and Ho Vann, paving the way to try them on criminal charges of defamation against Hun Sen and 22 military officials, respectively.

• On June 26, a Phnom Penh court sentenced Hang Chakra, owner of the opposition newspaper Khmer Machas Srok (Khmer Landowner), to one year in prison on charges of disinformation after the newspaper published articles on government corruption.
• On July 7, Kong Sam Onn, one of the few private lawyers who had been brave enough to represent opposition SRP members in court, "defected" to the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and dropped his representation of Mu Sochua and Ho Vann after he was sued for defamation by Hun Sen and threatened with disbarment by the Cambodian Bar Association for representing Mu Sochua against criminal defamation charges.
• On July 10, Dam Sith, the owner of Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience), one of Cambodia's oldest and most influential opposition papers, closed the newspaper to avoid criminal prosecution for criticism of government officials.
• On July 14, Moeung Sonn, president of the Khmer Civilization Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison on charges of disinformation after he raised concerns about the effect of installation of lights on the Angkor monuments.

With the resignation of their lawyer, opposition lawmakers Ho Vann and Mu Sochua have not been able to find other lawyers willing to represent them in their upcoming trials, scheduled for July 17 and July 24, respectively.

"If Ho Vann and Mu Sochua are convicted, there's a real chance that two of the most active opposition voices will permanently lose their seats in the National Assembly," said Adams. "Key issues are at stake here - multi-party democracy, rule of law, independence of lawyers, and freedom of expression."

Human Rights Watch expressed concern about the coerced closure of Moneaksekar Khmer on July 10, prompted by a battery of defamation, disinformation, and incitement suits filed by the government against the newspaper's editor, Dam Sith, a member of the board of directors of the Sam Rainsy Party. After Sith pledged to close the paper in a letter of apology to Hun Sen on July 8, the charges were reportedly dropped.

Since it began publication in Phnom Penh in 1993, Moneaksekar Khmer has experienced regular threats, intimidation, and even the killing of one of its staff. Khim Sambo, a reporter for the paper, was killed just weeks before national elections in July 2008 and shortly after the one-week detention, in June, of Dam Sith on disinformation charges filed by the foreign minister.

The two other main newspapers formerly affiliated with the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) have also been targeted. In late June 2009, Hang Chakra, owner of Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, was sentenced to a year in prison on disinformation charges, for articles concerning corruption in the office of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.

In 2008, the popular pro-SRP newspaper Sralang Khmer (Love Khmer) suddenly re-aligned toward the ruling party after its editor, Thach Ket, a board member of the SRP, was pressured to defect, during a period when the ruling party was being accused of using threats and inducements to obtain coerced defections of opposition leaders.

Perhaps the most outrageous misuse of criminal defamation charges has been in the conviction in early June of SRP youth activist Soung Sophorn, after he wrote slogans criticizing the government on the outside walls of his own house, which was slated for forced eviction for a new development on land owned by a ruling-party senator.

The recent lawsuits have all been filed under the broadly worded articles 62 (Disinformation; distribution of false information "likely to disturb the public peace") and 63 (Defamation and Libel) of the temporary penal code promulgated in 1992 by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia. While imprisonment was removed as a penalty for defamation in 2006, it remains a criminal offense, and prison sentences of up to three years still apply for disinformation. Human Rights Watch said that criminal defamation laws violate the internationally protected right to freedom of expression and have a chilling effect on government critics and the media.

The string of lawsuits has effectively muzzled opposition voices, with an SRP member of parliament, Son Chhay, commenting in a Radio Australia interview on July 9: "We have no alternative. I think we will quiet down for a while. We are not going to raise the issue of corruption. We are not going to speak about land-grabbing. We are not going to talk about the corrupt court system."

Human Rights Watch urged Cambodia's international donors, especially those funding programs promoting the rule of law, judicial reform, human rights, and good governance, to insist that the Cambodian government cease its harassment and abusive legal actions against opposition members.

"The space for opposition media and peaceful dissent is rapidly shrinking in Cambodia, especially now with the closure of one of Cambodia's last remaining opposition newspapers," said Adams. "Cambodia's laws criminalizing peaceful speech should be repealed so that Hun Sen and other officials can no longer threaten journalists with jail for practicing their profession."

"Through violence, threats and money politics, Hun Sen already controls almost every aspect of Cambodia's politics," said Adams. "Yet his efforts to silence dissent seem endless. Why does he seem to wake up every day looking for enemies to persecute? Will this ever end?"

Court Calls in Another Editor for Questions

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
09 July 2009

A second opposition newspaper editor was issued a subpoena Wednesday, to answer questions on a number of criminal charges, just one week after the jailing of his colleague.

The subpoena calls for Dam Sith, editor of Moneaksekar Khmer, to appear in court July 14, for questioning in a government lawsuit for defamation, insult, disinformation, incitement and a “breaking of solidarity.”

Dam Sith was briefly jailed in a lawsuit brought by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong last year, after publishing remarks by opposition leader Sam Rainsy implicating the minister in the Khmer Rouge.

Dam Sith told VOA Khmer Wednesday he received the summons June 29.

“Until this time, I did not know that government sued me for any articles, and I am looking for lawyer to defend my case,” he said.

Long Dara, a government lawyer, said Dam Sith was being sued for 18 articles written between February and May, “published to incite a conflict among senior government officials without fact.”

The articles were over the appointment of Gen. Pol Saroeun to commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, as he replaced Gen. Ke Kim Yan.

“We have much evidence to sue Dam Sith in these cases,” Long Dara said.

“These articles attacked the government and incited to have conflict and a break-up of internal government solidarity,” he said. “In the lawsuit, we site penal charges relating to articles 60, 61, 62, and 63 in the 1992 penal code.”

The case comes in the wake of a yearlong prison sentence for another opposition journalist.

Hang Chakra, chief of the Khmer Mchas Srok newspaper, was imprisoned and fined after publishing reports in April and May that implicated Council Minister Sok An in corrupt practices.

“I would like to call for the court to seriously investigate and to request the court use the media law to sentence or to have a hearing for Dam Sith’s case,” Um Sarin, president of the Cambodian Association for Protection of Journalists, said Wednesday.

Prince Ranariddh drops lawsuit against [Moneaksekar] Khmer newspaper editor

Tuesday, 06 January 2009
Written by Neth Pheaktra
The Phnom Penh Post

Rehabilitated Prince Ranariddh has said he will not sue Moneaksekar Khmer for defamation after its editor wrote a letter of apology

PRINCE Norodom Ranariddh has decided not to file a lawsuit against Khmer-language newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer after its editor wrote a letter to apologise and retract previous allegations that the prince had lobbied for special privileges for him and his supporters.

"I thank you for the truth you have presented in your letter; it was very meaningful in providing me justice," Ranariddh wrote to the newspaper's publisher and Editor-in-Chief Dam Sith in a letter dated December 31 and acquired by the Post on Monday.

The article, published in December, alleged that the prince had requested Prime Minister Hun Sen provide him with a mansion in front of the Royal Palace and asked for the appointments of 200 of his supporters to the King's Cabinet.

The prince was swift to lash back, threatening to take the newspaper to court for defamation, claiming the broadsheet had published unfounded information about him.

And Ranariddh's spokesman, Chea Chanboribo, demanded the newspaper present written evidence signed by the prince proving that this accusation was true, or expect to be sued.

Dam Sith had previously stood by the article, saying he had satisfied legal requirements by publishing a letter of protest by Ranariddh's camp and revealing his source for the allegations.

But, according Chea Chanboribo, Dam Sith has now admitted to wrongdoing and the incident is over.

The prince is "finished with the affairs with Moneakseka Khmer, and there will not be a lawsuit", he said.

"He has forgiven the newspaper after its publisher, Dam Sith, sent a letter to Norodom Ranariddh seeking a pardon and recognizing that the information published in the newspaper did not have a real source."

Dam Sith declined to comment Monday, saying only that he had not received a copy of the letter.

Opposition journalists fear secret police are watching

Dam Sith is seen in a car’s rearview mirror as he leaves Prey Sar prison in June. He has since left the country. (Photo: HENG CHIVOAN)

Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Written by Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Their colleague was assassinated, their editor-in-chief left the country, now they feel they’re being monitored by police

TWO reporters from the opposition-aligned newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer fear that police are conducting a secret investigation of their activities, one of the reporters told the Post on Monday.

Vong Sopheak and his brother, Vong Sopheap, both journalists at the newspaper, said a group of men followed and photographed them during a demonstration on Sunday in front of the Free Trade Union offices to protest the presence of Thai soldiers at the Preah Vihear temple complex.

"A journalist at the event told me the men asked about me and wanted to know what newspaper I worked for," Vong Sopheap said. "They already knew we worked for Moneaksekar Khmer."

The brothers claim that they have been followed since July 12, when they took part in a celebration of slain Moneaksekar Khmer journalist Khim Sambo, who was gunned down with his son a day earlier. A group of plainclothes men took several photographs of them during the event, according to Vong Sopheap.

The same group of men followed the brothers during the trade union demonstration, Vong Sopheap said, adding that he and his brother argued with the men when they began taking pictures of them and demanded that the photos be deleted.

Formal complaint needed

Touch Naruth, head of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police, said that if the journalists were being intimidated or harassed, they should file a formal complaint. Until they did so, there was nothing that he could do.

"The police have no policy of photographing people, except to document illegal activities and to keep as evidence in case of a complaint against police," said Touch Naruth.

"We have no need to photograph Moneaksekar Khmer journalists. There is nothing to see there."

Dam Sith, editor-in-chief of Moneaksekar Khmer, left the country August 5 for the United States.

He was arrested in June on charges of defamation and spreading disinformation over an article from April 18 linking Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong to the Khmer Rouge. He served one week in prison before Prime Minister Hun Sen requested his release on bail.

Post-election report on the media situation in Cambodia

1 August 2008
Source: CAPJ

Two weeks before the elections in Cambodia, unidentified men shot and killed journalist Khim Sambo and his son, Khat Sarin Theada. The twin murders capped the violence, harassment and perceived government manipulation surrounding the 27 July polls, leaving media observers wondering about the fate of press freedom in Cambodia.

Going by how the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is said to have manipulated the conduct of the 27 July elections to achieve a landslide victory, the local media remain uneasy at the prospect of five more years under PM Hun Sen.

SEAPA partner Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ) says that even though all 11 political parties had access to the state media such as TVK and the national FM and AM radio stations, the ruling party used government resources like the bureaucracy and security forces to keep the upper hand in mass communications.

This was clearly seen on the allocation of airtime to the political parties. The National Election Committee (NEC) officially granted each party a 10-minute TV slot twice daily to present their respective programs, platforms and achievements. And yet the ruling party in fact enjoyed virtual monopoly over the state-owned media and had influence over nine private TV stations and 38 radio stations, allowing it to enjoy 95% of the total airtime.

Opposition parties were allowed to buy one to two hours of airtime each day from the private media. Even then, the opposition was at a disadvantage. Though they were able to buy airtime from private radio stations like FM 105 Mhz (the most independent radio station), FM 93.5 Mhz, FM 105.25 Mhz in Siem Reap and FM 104 Mhz, private TV stations charged exorbitant prices: CAPJ says private TV operators—who must secure a license to operate from the government—were in truth hesitant to book oppositionists for fear of government reprisal.

Opposition parties also complained that the images of their spots in government-run TVK were blurred.

The government also took blatant moves to silence the opposition. The night before the polls, some 20 armed policemen raided the FM 93.5 radio station, known for its support of the opposition, and closed it down without an order from the court or the Information Ministry.

The order for the closure came out only the next day. It accused the station of defying an NEC rule to stop political broadcasts by July 26, the eve of the elections. The FM station noted, however, that the government had overlooked similar violations by government stations favorable to the administration and the CPP.

The twin killings of journalist Khim Sambo and his son are also believed to be directly related to politics. Sambo was a reporter for the "Moneakseka Khmer (Khmer Conscience)" newspaper, which is known for supporting the SRP. The police are still investigating the case.

Moneakseka Khmer's editor, Dam Sith, had been recently charged for printing allegations that Cambodia's foreign minister had ties to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. The charge was later dropped, but CAPJ said that the attack on Khim Sambo came soon after his editor's release.

Despite the ruling party's landslide victory, CAPJ notes that with the CPP's use of the state apparatus to control the media during the elections, the future of genuine democracy in Cambodia under Hun Sen remains challenged and in doubt.

Fear for Safety Remains: Journalists

Sam Rithy Duong Hak, vice president of the Cambodian Association of Professional Journalists

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
22 July 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

Dam Sith, the editor of the opposition newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer who was jailed for a week in June and was the boss of slain journalist Khim Sambor, fully supports the FBI's offer to aid police in solving the murder.

Speaking by phone for fear of leaving his house, Dam Sith said Thursday on "Hello VOA" he regretted that Cambodia had not yet taken the FBI up on an offer to aid the investigation of the murder of Khim Sambor, who was shot dead with his son July 11 on a Phnom Penh street.

"I strongly support the FBI to help investigate, but it's a regret that the government refuses to grant their participation," Dam Sith said.

No suspect has been arrested in the murder, but the killing, two weeks from a national election, has meant a chilling effect on opposition journalists.

"We do not dare to cover news in public, because we're concerned about our safety," Dam Sith said.

At least 12 journalists have been killed in Cambodia since 1994, but no killers have been brought to trial.

Sam Rithy Duong Hak, vice president of the Cambodian Association of Professional Journalists, echoed Dam Sith's support for FBI assistance.

"There is more fear now," he said.

Moneakseka Khmer journalist Khim Sambo shot and killed

Cambodia journalist shot dead - police

PHNOM PENH, July 11 (Reuters) - A Cambodian journalist working for an opposition newspaper was shot dead on Friday by unknown gunmen who fired on the victim and his son, police said.

Khim Sam Bo, 47, was shot twice and his 19-year-old son was seriously wounded in the capital Phnom Penh, as they left a sports stadium, police chief G. Touch Naruth said.

"We do not know the motive for the killing yet. The investigation continues," he told Reuters.

Colleagues said he had written stories criticising senior government officials and corruption in the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is seeking re-election in a July 27 general election.

Khim Sam Bo worked for more than 10 years for the Khmer Conscience newspaper, whose editor Dam Seth was recently accused of defaming Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. The charges were later dropped.

"I am so disappointed. It hurts me to hear that he was killed," Dam Seth told Reuters.

"I call on the authorities to find the killers of Khim Sam Bo and punish them," he said.

(Reporting by Ek Madra; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Bate Felix)

Hor Namhong To Sue Sam Rainsy In The French Court

Hor Namhong (L) and Sam Rainsy (R).

27th June 2008
By Chea Makara
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong has confirmed that he had lodged a defamation and disinformation law suit against Mr. Sam Rainsy in the French court in relation to Mr. Sam Rainsy’s speech which alleged that Mr. Hor Namhong was the chief of the Boeng Trabek Prison during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Mr. Hor Namhong had confirmed this law suit in a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the morning of the 27th of June.

Mr Hor Namhong Said: “If we let the Khmer court judge this case, people will say that the Khmer court is biased. So we decided to go to the French court, and wait to see what the people will say about that?”

Mr Sam Rainsy was happy that this case has been brought to the French court which he considered to be more independent than the Cambodian court. He added that the court hearing will take place next year.

Mr Sam Rainsy said: “The French courts are independent, the French courts don’t listen to the dictators like the courts in Cambodia. I’m so happy that I have the opportunity to expose the truth, to show the evidence as well as to bring the witnesses to testify as to who played what role during the Khmer Rouge regime. I have waited for this opportunity for a long time. I’m very happy that I have an opportunity to challenge him in a French court. It is only in the Cambodian courts that we cannot win any case against any Cambodian government leaders.”

At the same time Mr. Hor Namhong has announced that he has withdrawn a law suit against Mr. Dam Sith, a Sam Rainsy Party MP candidate and an editor of the Moneaksekar Khmeer newspaper. Mr. Dam Sith was arrested on the 8th of June and was released a week later when PM Hun Sen intervened.

The international community was concerned that the law suits against Mr. Dam Sith and Mr. Sam Rainsy will affect the upcoming election which will be held on the 27th of July 2008.

Hor Namhong double-dipping? He sues Sam Rainsy twice: in Cambodia and in France for the same case

Hor Namhong (Photo: DR, Cambodge Soir Hebdo)

Hor Namhong withdraw his lawsuit against Dam Sith

27 June 2008
Leang Delux Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the original article in French

Hor Namhong, the Foreign Affair minister, announced on Friday 27 June that he will withdraw his lawsuit against Dam Sith, the opposition journalist.

“Dam Sith came to ask me for an amicable settlement, I will ask the tribunal to withdraw my lawsuit,” Hor Namhong said during an interview with a representative of the Cambodian Club of Journalists (CCJ) and Dam Sith who was accompanied by his lawyer.

“I told Dam Sith that I did not wish to have a lawsuit between journalists and politicians during the run up to the election. I am happy to end this affair,” Hor Namhong added.

Kong Sam Onn, Dam Sith’s lawyer, said that he was also satisfied, and that this withdrawal would allow the journalist as well as the minister to turn the page and avoid any disturbance to the election campaign.

How Namhong did not withdraw his lawsuit against opposition leader Sam Rainsy whom the Moneakseka Khmer newspaper quoted.

“I brought a lawsuit in the French tribunal and one more with the Cambodian tribunal for defamation and disinformation. If the Cambodian justice is under coercion, we will see how the French justice will decide the case,” Hor Namhong said.

Sam Rainsy reacted by saying: “It is normal that Hor Namhong withdraw his lawsuit against Dam Sith. This affair shouldn’t have started to begin with.” Sam Rainsy is also happy to learn that Hor Namhong brought a lawsuit against him in France. “The French justice is free, and I have enough proofs and witnesses to support what I said,” he added.

In April, Hor Namhong brought a lawsuit against Sam Rainsy for defamation in disinformation, and also against the Moneakseka Khmer newspaper for disinformation. He blamed the opposition newspaper of quoting Sam Rainsy’s claim, according to which Hor Namhong directed the Boeng Trabek jail under the KR regime.

“This is not an ordinary case, especially for me who had particularly suffered under the KR regime,” Hor Namhong explained.

Dam Sith: "Hor Namhong doesn't want to be reminded of the past" [-Too many bad memories from the past for Hor Namhong?]

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Friday he was dropping a defamation suit to help a secure election environment.

Minister Drops Suit Against Opposition Editor

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
27 June 2008

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong announced Friday he will drop his defamation suit against an opposition newspaper editor who was jailed for a week earlier this month.

Hor Namhong said he was dropping his suit against Dam Sith because he did not want to interfere with the political atmosphere ahead of general elections.

The defamation suit, filed in April, stemmed from a story published in Dam Sith's newspaper, Moneaksekar Khmer, which quoted opposition leader Sam Rainsy accusing the foreign minister of involvement in the Khmer Rouge. Dam Sith spent a week in jail following Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigations, worrying observers that press freedom was eroding ahead of July's national election.

"I am very happy to drop the complaint against Dam Sith, in the spirit of compatriotism," Hor Namhong told reporters Friday, following an hour-long meeting with Dam Sith at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "I told Dam Sith that although we occupy different political tendencies, we are all Khmer, and this compromise will lead to a good atmosphere for the election."

Hor Namhong said he would officially request the court to drop the case.

"Hor Namhong doesn't want to be reminded of the past," Dam Sith said following the announcement Friday. "He decided to drop his complaint against me."

"I did not apologize to Hor Namhong," he said of the meeting, "but I only asked that he compromise and he get his complaint out of court, so that I have the right to walk around without restriction."

Um Sarin, president of the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists, called the minister's decision a "positive step" and "good example for other high-ranking officials."

Hor Namhong withdraws his lawsuit against Dam Sith, Moneaksekar Khmer Editor-in-chief and SRP MP candidate

Hor Namhong (L) and Sam Rainsy (R) (Photo: RFA)

Cambodian minister drops defamation suit against news editor

Jun 27, 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - A senior Cambodian minister will withdraw a defamation complaint against an opposition newspaper editor who is also a candidate in upcoming national elections, he announced at a press conference Friday.

On June 8, Dam Sith, editor of pro-Sam Rainsy Party newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer, was arrested as he washed his car in the capital and spent a week in the notorious Prey Sar prison before Prime Minister Hun Sen intervened on his behalf.

His arrest followed a complaint by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong accusing Sith of defamation, 'insult' and disinformation regarding quotes by opposition leader Sam Rainsy his paper had published.

The quotes concerned claims made by Sam Rainsy in connection with the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime which the minister said were deeply hurtful and completely untrue.

'I was a victim of the regime, not a perpetrator,' he said.

He gave no reason for dropping the charges, but a board member for the Club of Cambodian Journalists said later Sith had written to Hor Namhong saying publishing the quotes had been 'a mistake.'

Hor Namhong said he would continue to sue Rainsy for defamation through the Paris courts. Rainsy holds a French passport.

'Some people claim the Cambodian courts are not independent, so I am taking legal action in France,' he said.

Sith's arrest provoked howls of protest from human rights and media activists around the world.

His unprecedented detention on civil charges also came at a politically sensitive time, with Cambodia gearing up for national elections on July 27 which Hor Namhong's dominant Cambodian People's Party is expected to win handsomely.

Ieng Sary A Possible Witness In The Lawsuit Opposing Hor Nam Hong And Sam Rainsy

Click on the letter in Khmer to zoom in

10 June 2008

IENG SARY A POSSIBLE WITNESS
IN THE LAWSUIT OPPOSING HOR NAM HONG AND SAM RAINSY

Because Hor Nam Hong himself, confirming other sources, recognizes that he was in touch with Ieng Sary while at the Boeng Trabek prison under the Pol Pot regime (Rasmei Kampuchea, 23 April 2008), Sam Rainsy's lawyer today asked the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to allow Ieng Sary to be a witness in the defamation lawsuit filed against his client by Hor Nam Hong.

Original letter in Khmer is shown above.

SRP Cabinet

Political Cartoon: HO-5-HONG

Click on the toon to zoom in

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)