Firt Internet Crime in Cambodia

Click on the government complaint in Khmer to zoom in

March 10, 2010

FIRST INTERNET CRIME IN CAMBODIA

Excerpt from
the complaint lodged by the Cambodian Government against Sam Rainsy
(Lawsuit filed at the Court on February 25, 2010 by the Government’s lawyer)

«Through the Internet and other information systems Sam Rainsy recently gave interviews and showed documents such as photos, maps and a several-page set of explanatory documents with the purpose of misleading the national and international opinion so as they misunderstand the work of the Committee in charge of border delineation between Cambodia and Vietnam.

[…]

The border issue is a sensitive one and can affect national stability and security. Sam Rainsy is using a trick based on technology in order to mislead the public opinion. This is a violation of national laws that are in force.

Sam Rainsy had a dishonest intention when forging public documents and using them to distort information and unfairly blame the Government so as to provoke destruction and create turmoil affecting public security. Moreover, Sam Rainsy used all means to disseminate this invented and erroneous information in order to mislead national and international opinion in the whole world.

Sam Rainsy’s act is a crime as specified in Articles 49 [Forgery of Public Document: 5- to-15- year imprisonment] and 52 [Wrongful Damage to Property: 1-to-3-year imprisonment] of the Criminal Law for the Transitional Period. »

[End]
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10 Mars 2010

PREMIER CRIME INTERNET AU CAMBODGE

Extrait de la plainte portée par
le Gouvernement cambodgien contre Sam Rainsy
(Plainte déposée au Tribunal le 25 février 2010
par l’avocat du Gouvernement)

« Tout récemment, au moyen du système de diffusion Internet et d’autres systèmes d’information, le dénommé Sam Rainsy a, à travers des interviews, montré des documents tels que photos, cartes et documents explicatifs de plusieurs pages dans le but de tromper l’opinion nationale et internationale pour que celle-ci se méprenne à propos du travail du Comité de délimitation des frontières entre le Cambodge et le Vietnam.

[…]

Le problème des frontières est une question sensible et peut affecter la stabilité et la sécurité nationales. La démarche de Mr Sam Rainsy est une ruse consistant à utiliser la technologie pour tromper l’opinion publique. Cet acte est une violation des lois nationales en vigueur.

Le dénommé Sam Rainsy a eu une intention malhonnête quand il s’est livré à la falsification de documents publics et l’utilisation de ces documents pour dénaturer l’information et rejeter injustement la faute sur le gouvernement dans un but de destruction pour créer des troubles à la sécurité publique. Pire encore, le dénommé Sam Rainsy a utilisé tous les moyens pour diffuser ces informations inventées et erronées pour tromper l’opinion nationale et internationale dans le monde entier.

Les actes commis par Sam Rainsy sont des délits relevant des articles 49 [Falsification de documents publics : 5 à 15 ans de prison] et 52 [Destruction illégale de biens appartenant à autrui : 1 à 3 ans de prison] du Code Pénal transitoire. »

[Fin]

Tried in absentia, Cambodian journalist immediately arrested, sent to prison

Hang Chakra (Photo: Zakariya, RFA)

28 June 2009
Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

The editor-in-chief of the "The Khmer Machas Srok" newspaper, who had been fined and sentenced to a year's imprisonment, was arrested on the same day by the police and sent to the Prey Sar prison, near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, media reports said.

Hang Chakra was arrested at a rented house in Chamcar Samrong commune in Battambang City and was immediately sent to jail, Radio Free Asia quoted Am Sam Ath, director of investigation for the Licadho human rights group, as saying.

Hang Chakra’s lawyer, Chuong Chou-ngy, said that the sentence handed down by the Phnom Penh municipal court is very unfair for his client because the decision was made in absentia, and neither he nor his client were present during the court decision. Only the judge, the prosecutors and the government lawyer who brought the lawsuit against Hang Chakra were present.

Radio Free Asia quoted Chuon Chou-ngy: "[The court] hastened [the process] to hand out the sentence. Even without the presence of my client [Hang Chankra] and my request to delay the case, they didn’t agree to it."

"The Phnom Penh Post" last week said Hang Chakra was meted out a one-year jail term and fined him 9 million riels ($2,250) on charges of publishing false information and defamation on Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister, Sok An. The charges were based on the UNTAC criminal code rather than the more recent Press Law. Cambodian journalists groups said the former carries harsher penalties, including imprisonment.

Am Sam Ath said: "We can see that [this case] can seriously affect the rights of journalists to express their opinion."

He added that, "The Appeal court must think about Mr. Hang Chakra’s case. The information law should be considered first before the criminal code is used."

The Phnom Penh municipal court and justice ministry officials could not be reached to explain about the legality of this court decision and sentence, Radio Free Asia said.
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The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (http://www.seapa.org) is a coalition of press freedom advocacy groups from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Established in November 1998, it is the only regional network with the specific mandate of promoting and protecting press freedom throughout Southeast Asia. SEAPA is composed of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (Indonesia), the Jakarta-based Institute for the Study of the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Thai Journalists Association. SEAPA also has partners in Malaysia, Cambodia, East Timor, and exiled Burmese media, and undertakes projects and programs for press freedom throughout the region.

For inquiries, please contact us at: seapa@seapa.org, or call +662 243 5579.

Khmer Machas Srok Editor-in-chief sent to Prey Sar jail

Hang Chakra (Photo: Zakariya, RFA)

27 June 2009
By Zakariya
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Hang Chakra, the editor-in-chief of The Khmer Machas Srok newspaper who was sentenced for publishing false information and defamation on a Cambodian minister [Sok An], was arrested by the police and sent to the Prey Sar jail, near Phnom Penh.

Am Sam Ath, director of investigation for the Licadho human rights group, indicated that Hang Chakra was sent to Prey Sar jail by the cops at 4PM on 26 June, after he was arrested by cops in Battambang, at a rented house in Chamcar Samrong commune, Battambang city.

Chuong Chou-ngy, Hang Chakra’s lawyer, said that the sentence handed down by the Phnom Penh municipal court is very unfair for his client because the decision was made in absentia, and neither he nor his client were present during the court decision. Only the judge, the prosecutors and the government lawyer who brought the lawsuit against Hang Chakra were present.

Chuon Chou-ngy said: “Therefore, when they held the hearing, they speed up [the process] to hand out the sentence. Even without the presence of my client [Hang Chankra] and my request to delay the case, they didn’t agree to it.”

On the legal process used by the Phnom Penh municipal court to sentence Hang Chakra to one year in jail and fined him 9 million riels ($2,25), Am Sam Ath said: “We can see that it can seriously affect the rights of journalists to express their opinion.”

Am Sam Ath added that this is an intimidation on journalists and a restriction on the freedom rights of journalists. The court action was taken to set an example to all other newspapers that are still undecided about whether to express their opinions or not.

Am Sam Ath said: “Therefore, the Appeal court must think about Mr. Hang Chakra’s case. The information law should be considered first before the criminal code is used.”

Judge of the Phnom Penh municipal court and justice ministry officials could not be reached to explain about the legality of this court decision and sentence.

On 26 June, Hang Chakra was sentenced following a lawsuit brought up by the government lawyer. He was accused of publishing false information and defamation after his newspaper reported a number of articles in April and May. These articles accused a number of government officials around deputy-PM Sok An of corruption.

An alliance of Civil Society organizations and the Cambodian Club of Journalists issued two separate statements to express their concerns on the press freedom in Cambodia, they were also disappointed that the court did not use the newly-adopted information law in this case.

Cambodian editor sentenced on 'disinformation' charge

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

New York, June 26, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing today of Hang Chakra, editor-in-chief of the opposition Khmer-language daily Khmer Machas Srok, to one year in prison stemming from his reports on alleged government corruption.

According to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), a Cambodian court ruled that Hang Chakra violated criminal disinformation laws by publishing a series of articles that accused officials working under Deputy Prime Minister Sok An of corruption. The court also fined the editor 9,000 riels (US$2,250), according to SEAPA.

Cambodia's National Assembly decriminalized defamation in 2007, a move many hoped would end the legal harassment of journalists who reported critically on government affairs. But journalists still risk criminal prosecution and maximum three-year jail terms on disinformation charges, which are outlined in the penal code that was enacted under the former United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). Cambodian newspapers, including the Phnom Penh Post, denounced the verdict, and quoted Hang Chakra as saying "this is the cruelest thing to happen to me."

In a June 4 article in the Phnom Penh Post Hang Chakra said he stood by the story. "When the prosecutor asked me to show them more information, I told them that I stood by the information published in my newspaper and told them that I could not reveal the source of the information."

The paper pointed out that under the Press Law, publishing "false" information, while a criminal offense, carries only a fine of up to 5 million riels (US$1,250). "But the UNTAC criminal code contains much harsher punishments," the paper noted, "with offenders facing a prison term of between six months and three years, and a fine of up to 10 million riels."

UNTAC's legal authority expired with the promulgation of a new national constitution in 1993; the 1995 Press Law broadly protects press freedoms. But since the decriminalization of defamation, Cambodian officials have resorted to the UNTAC-era criminal code to clamp down on media criticism.

"We urge the relevant Cambodian authorities to release journalist Hang Chakra," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia Program Director. "Cambodia's 1995 Press Law broadly protects press freedom, and rulings such as these run counter to the letter and spirit of that legislation. The court should not rely on outdated laws to prosecute journalists who report on government corruption."

It is not clear whether Hang Chakra will appeal. The ruling comes amid a wider crack down on free expression in Cambodia that has targeted government critics including two opposition politicians who have been stripped of their parliamentary immunity so that defamation charges may be brought against them.

CAMBODIA: Imprisonment for debt must be stopped

November 27, 2007
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

CAMBODIA: Imprisonment for debt must be stopped

On November 19, 2007 an elderly man named Hach Tuos, 57, from Reaksmei Sang-ha village, Khnach Romeas commune, Bovel district in the northwestern province of Battambang, went with another man who he later told the police was a motorcycle taxi driver, to a karaoke parlour in Battambang city which is the capital of that province. Both men were drinking and singing and in the middle of the revelry, the driver took from him not only the transport fare but US he had at the time, and left the place, leaving him to foot the bill of 222,000 riels or US.50. This is the information he gave to the police.

Hach Tuos had no money to pay the bill. The owner of the parlour named Oum Sarath took him to the district police, suing him for “refusing to pay” the bill. The police arrested Hach Tuos for “breach of trust”, which is a criminal offence under Article 6 of the criminal law of 1992, commonly known as the UNTAC Law. He was later sent to the provincial police where he was detained while the police contacted his family, telling them to bring the money to pay the karaoke parlour’s owner so that Hach Tuos could be released. However, according to the police no member of his family came.

During the night of 21 November, Hach Tuos died in police custody by hanging himself with his shirt from a window bar of his cell. A doctor named Uch Sitha certified that the man had committed suicide by hanging. No torture or any other ill treatment was suspected. There was a possibility that the man had killed himself out of shame or depression after his arrest.

It is likely that due to the circumstances he related to the police, Hach Tuos was simply unable to pay the debt of US.50 he owed to the owner of that karaoke parlour. He incurred a debt, a civil liability, under an unwritten contract between a seller and a buyer. Furthermore, when the police contacted Hach Tuos’s family to have to money to pay the owner of the karaoke parlour, they acknowledged his inability to pay what he owed to the owner of that parlour. Hach Tuos committed no breach of trust as defined under Art. 6 of that criminal law which says:

“Any person who misappropriates or disposes of, against the interest of the owner, possessor or holder, any property, money, merchandise, or document containing or establishing an obligation or release, which was entrusted to that person as rent, deposit, commission, loan or remuneration for paid or unpaid work, having promised to return it or to offer it back or to put it to an agreed upon use, is guilty of breach of trust and shall be liable to a punishment of a term of imprisonment of one to five years.”

To charge Hach Tuos with any breach of trust, the police should have proof to show that (1) a property had been entrusted to him; (2) he had promised to return it to its owner or to use it for a specific purpose; (3) he had disposed of or misappropriated it; and (4) he had had criminal intent.

The police did not have such proof. Nor did they ask the owner of the karaoke parlour to show that Hach Tuos had any criminal intent when he was consuming the drinks and enjoying the services his parlour was selling him.

However, accusing or charging people who are unable to repay their debt or fulfill any other contractual obligation, and arrest and detain them is a common practice in the Cambodian legal system, though the life of those accused persons has not ended as tragically as Hach Tuos’s. It is widely claimed that a criminal lawsuit and the ensuing detention are more effective and efficient in getting what the accusers want. The civil procedure simply takes too long and the outcome is uncertain.

This criminal lawsuit creates so much fear of being locked up in the accused persons that they find ways and means to avoid detention, including for instance, getting sympathetic relatives or friends to help pay up their debt or fulfill their contractual obligations, or bribing the police or the courts to bail themselves out. If the accused persons do not have such ways and means, then they have to linger in pre-trail detention or in jail following their conviction.

This practice is very much akin to holding the accused persons for ransom, but it is a blatant violation of the right to protection from imprisonment for debt and other inability to fulfill a contractual obligation recognized under Article 11 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which says that: “No one shall be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to fulfill a contractual obligation.” This right is further guaranteed by Article 4(2) of the same Covenant when it may not be derogated even in public emergency.

This is yet another area in which Cambodia has failed to honour its international human rights obligations under the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991 and especially under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which it has been a party since 1992. When imprisonment for debt and other inability to fulfill a contractual obligation is an accepted practice, the Cambodian judiciary not only has failed in its constitutional duty to protect this particular right to protection from such imprisonment, but has taken part in its violation.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) strongly urges the Cambodian government, police and judiciary to abandon this practice of turning, what should be simple civil cases arising out of inability to pay a debt or fulfill other contractual obligation, into criminal cases in violation of the right to protection from imprisonment for such civil liability. A law should be enacted to strictly prohibit imprisonment for debt and other inability to fulfill a contractual obligation in conformity with Article 11 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Any such imprisonment or detention in breach of this prohibition should be made a criminal offence of illegal confinement punishable by imprisonment from three to ten years under Article 35 of the UNTAC Law.

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.