Cambodian Court Overlooks Civil Press Law in Defamation Case

Thursday, 12 November 2009
Press Release: International Federation of Journalists

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is dismayed by a decision of the Phnom Penh Court in Cambodia to overlook the country’s civil Press Law in dealing with a defamation case against freelance journalist Ros Sokhet.

According to the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), an IFJ affiliate, the court applied an outdated law from the interim United Nations Transitional Authority of Cambodia (UNTAC) to sentence Sokhet to two years’ jail for defamation on November 6.

UNTAC was instituted by a United Nations peacekeeping mission to Cambodia in 1992-93 to support the country’s democratic transition.

In 1995, Cambodia’s National Assembly formally adopted Cambodia’s Press Law, under which defamation is to be dealt with as a civil matter.

“Criminal defamation remains a major hurdle in Cambodia’s process of securing press freedom and journalists’ rights,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

“But there are appropriate civil laws in place to resolve media-related disputes, and Cambodia’s Press Law should be applied to assist in the resolution of media-related disputes in all circumstances.”

The IFJ stands in solidarity with CAPJ in calling on Cambodia’s Government to ensure the laws appropriate to defamation do not contain criminal penalties.

Rights groups decry jailing of journalist

Monday, 09 November 2009
Chhay Channyda and Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post

LOCAL and international human rights groups have lashed out at the two-year sentence handed down to freelance journalist Ros Sokhet by Phnom Penh Municipal Court last week, describing it as an “outrageous misuse” of a criminal lawsuit.

In a hearing Friday, judge Chhay Kong sentenced Ros Sokhet, 40, to two years in prison after convicting him of spreading disinformation by sending disparaging text messages to Soy Sopheap, a well-known CTN anchor.

The following day, the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ) issued a statement saying it was “deeply dismayed” by the sentence, as well as the fact that the court chose to prosecute Ros Sokhet under the Kingdom’s 1992 UNTAC Law rather than the more lenient Press Law, passed in 1995.

On Friday, the court heard that Ros Sokhet’s messages, sent on October 8 and 28, accused Soy Sopheap of demanding hush money from Khay Dara, a woman arrested for firing a pistol during a traffic dispute in September, in exchange for keeping her story out of the news. The journalist admitted to the court that he had sent the messages, but claims he was only alerting Soy Sopheap to rumours already in circulation.

Ros Sokhet is the third person to have been imprisoned in a legal crackdown that has seen over 10 journalists and critics sued for defamation or disinformation by senior government officials since April.

On Sunday, observers criticised the terms of Ros Sokhet’s sentence and questioned that the text messages, which were never made public, could be used to mount a case for his imprisonment.

“The sentence is unjust and disproportional to his offence. It violates the Press Law and the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression,” said Moeun Chhean Nariddh, director of the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies.“His text messages were wrong, but he should not be imprisoned.”

Sara Colm, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the case would only “reinforce the chilling effect” of the recent string of lawsuits against government critics.

“This year has already seen one person convicted for writing slogans on the walls of his house protesting his own eviction; now it’s text messages.”

Sok Dara, a lawyer from the Cambodia Defenders Project who represented Ros Sokhet, agreed on the primacy of the 1995 Press Law and requested that its articles replace the harsher terms of the 1992 UNTAC criminal code.

CAPJ’s Deputy Director Sam Rithy Doung Hak said the two-year sentence was an indication the government was continuing to take “a heavy-handed” approach to critics, but was unsure if the recently passed Penal Code – which is set to replace the UNTAC Law – would stem the tide of defamation convictions.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith declined to comment after the verdict was handed down on Friday.

EU Marks Concern Over Freedom of Expression

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 August 2009

Three members of the European Union met with Foreign Ministry officials Friday to express their concerns over a recent deterioration of the human rights climate.

The EU, represented by British Ambassador, German Ambassador and the European Commission Charge d’Affairs, met with the ministry’s secretary of state, Ouch Borith, officials said.

The EU said it was concerned “specifically with regard to freedom of expression rule of law and the,” the British Embassy said in a statement.

“The EU expressed concern in this context over a number of instances in which criminal charges of defamation and disinformation have been used against representatives of civil society, the media and the political opposition,” the embassy said.

The EU has a rotating presidency, currently held by Sweden, but it is represented in Phnom Penh by the British Embassy.

Government and court officials are facing increased scrutiny after a raft of cases in the court that appear aimed at dissenters.

Respect for democratic principles and human rights “plays a central part in the political and development relationship between the EU and Cambodia,” the embassy said. “The EU noted that transparency, the rule of law, freedom of expression and open political debate are indisputable elements of democracy.”

One journalist has been jailed on defamation charges, another folded his newspaper to avoid the same, and two Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers, including Mu Sochua, were stripped of their immunity as they were sued in different cases for defamation.

Mu Sochua was fined more than $4,000 this week when she lost a suit to Prime Minister Hun Sen, who claimed she had defamed him by lodging a complaint in court over allegedly sexist remarks in a speech in April.

The EU representatives called on the government to take measures to ensure it was “conforming to its national and international commitments, including under the UN human rights instruments to which it is a party,” the embassy said.

Om Yentieng, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen and the head of the government’s human rights body, declined to comment, saying he had not yet seen the EU statement.

Imprisoned opposition publisher suffers diminishing health: lawyer

Opposition editor Hang Chakra with SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua outside Phnom Penh Municipal Court earlier this month. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)

Wednesday, 01 July 2009
Written by Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Hang Chakra, sentenced last week to one year in prison for defamation, says he hasn't been able to sleep or eat since he was incarcerated.

THE lawyer for jailed opposition newspaper publisher Hang Chakra said Tuesday that his client has gone without sleep or food since he was imprisoned last Friday, and that he would write a formal complaint about his health to the court.

"I went to visit my client on Monday at Prey Sar prison. He told me he could not eat or sleep," lawyer Choung Chou Ngy told the Post Tuesday.

"This could make him sick, so I am now preparing two letters to the court to have him released from prison and one more letter to the Appeal Court," he said.

Hang Chakra, who publishes the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, was sentenced to one year in prison for after a judge last week found him guilty of publishing false information pertaining to a high-ranking government official and his staff.

No justice

Choung Chou Ngy claims his client, who was arrested and sentenced the same day, wasn't given a chance to defend himself, and that his health problems were likely a result of shock.

"The court did not let my client defend himself. Even I, his lawyer, was not given the chance to defend him," Choung Chou Ngy said. "Their aim is to imprison my client rather than seek justice."

Family expresses concern

Hang Chakra's family has also expressed concern over his health.

"I worry so much about my father's health because he has got multiple illnesses," Hang Chakra's daughter Hang Nethra, 20, said Tuesday.

Hang Nethra said that she wrote a letter through human rights organisations on Monday to get permission to visit her father.

Am Sam Ath, monitoring supervisor for rights group Licadho, said Tuesday his organisation had sent the letter but had not yet received a response.

"We wrote to the general department of the prison on Monday to allow his daughter and Licadho doctors see him because his health is not so good," Am Sam Ath said.

Heng Hak, general director at the prison, said Tuesday that he had not yet received the letter, adding: "If the court provides permission, they will be permitted to visit [Hang Chakra] in prison."

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Elastic Law

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

Newspaper editor jailed under law bequeathed by UN

30 June 2009
Reporters Without Border

Reporters Without Borders calls for the release of Hang Chakra, the editor of the daily Khmer Machas Srok (http://kmsblog.wordpress.com/), who was jailed on 26 June 2009 after receiving a one-year prison sentence as a result of government complaint about articles accusing the deputy prime minister of corrupt practices.

“Prime Minister Hun Sen took the historic decision to decriminalize defamation, but his government has now regrettably abused a law about disinformation that was inherited from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC),” Reporters Without Borders said. “Hang Chakra must be freed and then articles 62 and 63 of the criminal code bequeathed by the UN must be amended.”

The press freedom organisation added: “It is shocking that the government’s ministers decided to refer this matter to the courts without first requesting a right of reply in the newspaper.”

This is the first time that a journalist has been jailed since June 2008, when Dam Sith, the managing editor of the opposition daily Moneaksekar Khmer, spent a week in prison after being accused by the foreign minister of disseminating false information.

The complaint against Hang Chakra – over a series of articles in April and May accusing Deputy Prime Minister Sok An of corruption – was heard in the editor’s absence. The one-year jail sentence and a fine of 1,500 euros were imposed at the end of a trial lasting just one hour. The police then arrested Hang Chakra and took him to the capital’s Prey Sar prison.

His lawyer, Chong Cho Ngy, told Reporters Without Borders he would file an appeal. “I still do not understand why the judge refused to try my client under the press law,” he said. “The reports published in the newspaper were obviously of interest to its readers so it is clearly a press freedom issue.”

Speaking to the media, he said that, in order to reach a verdict quickly, the Phnom Penh court had rejected his request for an adjournment and had rushed the trial without Hang Chakra being present.

One of Cambodia’s three opposition dailies, Khmer Machas Srok is linked to the opposition Sam Rainsy party. Hang Chakra told the Cambodge Soir newspaper before he was jailed: “I know the courts will not rule in my favour… but I am not afraid.” In an article for the Phnom Penh Post (www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/ 2009060426264/National-news/Publisher-answers-charges.html), he said he had resisted the prosecutor’s attempts to get him to name his sources.

Judge Din Sivuthy tried Hang Chakra under the criminal code inherited from the UNTAC instead of the 1995 press law in order to be able to impose a more severe sentence. The press law provides for fines but not jail sentences.

According to the Cambodian Journalists Club, six lawsuits have been brought against opposition or independent journalists since the start of the year. Two of them are journalists employed by Radio Free Asia’s Khmer service who are being prosecuted in connection with a report on Cambodia’s Muslim community.

Hang Chakra’s jail sentence marks a new phase in the politicisation of defamation and disinformation complaints being brought by government officials in recent months. A report by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia deplored the fact that at least eight different complaints were pending against opposition members, lawyers and journalists.

Editor Jailed for Defamatory Articles

Hang Chakra shown in an undated photo. (RFA Photo/Zakariya)

2009-06-30
Radio Free Asia

The editor of a Cambodian opposition newspaper is tried and convicted in absentia for articles accusing officials of corruption.

PHNOM PENH — The editor of a Khmer opposition newspaper has been fined and sentenced in absentia to a year in prison for allegedly spreading “disinformation” after publishing a series of articles accusing a senior official of corruption.

Hang Chakra, of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, didn’t attend his trial at the Phnom Penh Municipal court but was arrested afterward at a rented home in Chamcar Samrong commune, Battambang city, and sent to Prey Sar prison near the capital, Phnom Penh.

His attorney, Chuong Choungy, vowed to appeal, calling the ruling unfair since neither he nor his client was present during the court decision.

Only the judge, prosecutors, and government lawyer who brought the lawsuit against Hang Chakra attended the trial.

“I’m asking the court to issue me the decision [in writing] and also [a copy of] the arrest warrant, because it authorized the arrest of my client and sent him to jail. I need these documents to file an appeal to free my client,” Chuong Choungy said.

“The criticism [my client] made was political, so the solution to this issue must come through a political process,” he said.

Chuong Choungy accused Cambodian officials of "[using] the court as their tool to shut the mouths of people who dare to criticize or publish uncomplimentary stories."

Inflammatory articles

Khmer Machas Srok, which endorses Cambodia’s opposition Sam Rainsy Party, published articles earlier this year alleging that Deputy Prime Minister Sok An was involved in corruption, according to a report by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance.

Sok An lodged a complaint with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, claiming that the newspaper was posing a threat to political stability by publishing articles that damaged the reputation of government officials.

On June 26, Judge Din Sivuthy ruled that Hang Chakra should pay a fine of 9 million riel (U.S. $2,250) and spend a year in prison for publishing "false information" and defaming on Sok An, according to a report by The Phnom Penh Post.

The charges were based on the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) criminal code, which carries harsher penalties against journalists such as imprisonment, rather than the more recently introduced Press Law.

Am Sam Ath, director of investigation for the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), said the case could “seriously affect the rights of journalists to express their opinion.”

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

Phnom Penh municipal court and Justice Ministry officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

RSF slams verdict

The Paris-based media freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called Monday for Hang Chakra's release, calling his conviction and imprisonment "shocking."

"Prime Minister Hun Sen took the historic decision to decriminalize defamation, but his government has now regrettably abused a law about disinformation that was inherited from [UNTAC]," RSF said.

"It is shocking that the government’s ministers decided to refer this matter to the courts without first requesting a right of reply in the newspaper."

"Hang Chakra must be freed, and then articles 62 and 63 of the criminal code bequeathed by the U.N. must be amended," it said.

This is the first time that a Cambodian journalist has been jailed since June 2008, when Dam Sith, managing editor of the opposition daily Moneaksekar Khmer, spent a week in prison after being accused by the foreign minister of disseminating false information.

Press harassment

According to the U.S. State Department’s 2008 human rights report, Cambodia’s government, military forces, and ruling political party continue to dominate the country’s broadcast media and influence the content of broadcasts there.

“All television stations and most radio stations were controlled or strongly influenced by the Cambodian People’s Party, although a few were independent or aligned with other parties,” the report said.

The report added that journalists, publishers, and distributors were also subject to harassment and intimidation, including death threats, and that most reporters and editors privately admitted to self-censorship for fear of government reprisals.

Original reporting by Savborey for RFA’s Khmer service. Khmer service director: Sos Kem. Written in English for the Web by Joshua Lipes. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.