Media Experts Worry About Declining Freedom

Hang Chakra, the publisher of Khmer Mchas Srok newspaper who was detained in 2010, told “Hello VOA” Thursday the paper had been doing well until he was held under criminal disinformation and defamation charges. (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Washington, DC Tuesday, 10 May 2011

“We are not killers murdering someone, and we aren’t robbers.”

Media experts say freedom of expression is on the decline in Cambodia, especially as journalists have recently been detained under criminal disinformation.

Hang Chakra, the publisher of Khmer Mchas Srok newspaper who was detained in 2010, told “Hello VOA” Thursday the paper had been doing well until he was held under criminal disinformation and defamation charges.

“That made me very disappointed, but now I continue with my work and reform that is balanced,” he said. He has again started publishing his paper, which is supportive of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, about a month ago, following more than a year’s absence.

Moeun Chhean Narridh, director of the Cambodian Institute for Media Studies, who was also a guest on “Hello VOA” Thursday, said journalists should not be punished under criminal laws.

Cambodian Opposition-affiliated Journalist Jailed for Disinformation

July 9, 2009
Source: Licadho

On June 26, 2009, opposition-affiliated Khmer Machach Srok newspaper director Hang Chakra was convicted in absentia of disinformation, sentenced to one year in prison, and fined 9 million riel (USD $2,250). Hours later, Hang Chakra was arrested in Cambodia's Northeast Battambang province and taken to Prey Sar prison.

Hang Chakra had originally been summoned to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on June 3 to answer questions regarding controversial articles published in his newspaper. During Chakra's interview, details of informants inside the Council of Ministers who were the source for the stories remained anonymous with Hang Chakra refusing to identify them to the court, as allowed under Article 2 of the Press Law.

His questioning came after the government filed a complaint in response to the articles published by Khmer Machah Srok in April and May 2009 about Senior Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, also head of the Council of Ministers.

The articles in question detail the alleged demotion and firing due to corruption of officials who worked with Sok An in the Council of Ministers. Upon filing the complaint, the government claimed that the articles could affect political stability in the country.

This was not the first time that Hang Chakra and his newspaper, one of the few media outlets not controlled by the ruling party, have come under fire from the government in recent years:

• In July 2008, an opposition defector and government advisor Sok Pheng threatened to sue Hang Chakra after the paper published an article alleging that Sok Pheng was involved in corrupt activities.
• In January 2008 Hang Chakra was questioned by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court after Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh filed a defamation lawsuit against him in relation to an article that alleged Cham Prasidh had had an extramarital affair.

Restricting Freedom of Expression

The government and the courts have been criticized repeatedly for resorting to the use of defamation and disinformation charges under the UNTAC Criminal Code (Articles 63 and 62, respectively) to restrict the freedom of expression. Courts' judges also continue to ignore the more recent 1995 Press Law, a civil law that was specifically enacted to regulate the print media; it contains less severe penalties than the UNTAC Criminal Code and offers the media some protections.

Although in May 2006 the UNTAC Criminal Code was amended to remove prison sentences for the charge of defamation after broad national and international pressure. It however still remains a criminal offense for which suspects can be arrested: a person convicted of defamation may still be imprisoned should they be unable to pay the fine, which can be as high as 10 million riel (USD $2,500) – a sum most Cambodians would have little hope of being able to pay.

After the amendment to the UNTAC code, the courts favored disinformation over defamation against government critics, the former still leading to imprisonment. While disinformation requires a high standard of proof – requiring the prosecution to prove that false information is published with malicious intent and poses a real threat to public peace – the reality is different and the courts freely convict journalists with little or no evidence when asked to do so.

LICADHO urges the government to remove both criminal defamation and disinformation charges entirely from the UNTAC Criminal Code as well as insuring the absence of such charges in the new draft of the Criminal Code currently before the National Assembly.

The government is also urged to cease pressuring the courts to restrict the freedom of expression in Cambodia. In particular, the court needs to cease its misuse of the UNTAC Criminal Code in favor of the Press Law to prosecute members of the media, and to do so independently.

As the Cambodian Constitution guarantees, all Cambodians have the right to express their opinions and to freely participate in debate about government policies and practices.

Opposition Seeks Visit of Jailed Journalist

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer Original report from Washington 03 July 2009

Comment: Many journalists and observers have simultaneously claimed that Cambodia is controlled by Sok An. Hun Sen has just received some petty cash from Sok An. Sok An might not be powerful over armforce, but Sok An is very powerful over the wealth of the nation. Arresting Hang Chakra is the alarming sign to silencing and shutting mouth of all those critics including the pro-government journalists especially to implicitly intimidate Cambodian people in the whole nation.

Opposition lawmakers on Thursday made a request to Phnom Penh court to visit a jailed opposition journalist who arrested following a verdict last week he had printed false information about a senior official.

Hang Chakra, chief of the Khmer Mchas Srok newspaper, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and fined $2,195, after publishing reports in April and May that implicated Council Minister Sok An in corrupt practices.

Sok An, who is responsible for some of the nation’s most important matters, including the Khmer Rouge tribunal and offshore oil exploration, filed suit, alleging the articles could affect political stability, as they were written about government leaders.

Police arrested Hang Chakra immediately after the verdict was announced, June 26.

“We want to visit him and ask him about some affairs about the arrest,” Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Yim Sovann told VOA Khmer Thursday.

Chhoung Chu Ngy, Hang Chakra’s lawyer, said he had requested release on the grounds that his detention was unjust. He also said he plans to appeal the verdict.

Chiv Keng, chief of Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and judge Din Sivuthy, who handled the case, could not be reached for comment, but a court official who asked not to be named said the court was considering the visitation request.

THE TALE OF TWO STUDENTS

Thursday, July 2, 2009
Op-Ed by Chanda Chhay

Justice Speech

I have been a frequent critic of the verdicts the Phnom Penh Municipal Court handed out to the accused who had the misfortune of going through its door. However, my criticism of the court in this article takes on a rather different level of emotion as the judge who sentenced a newspaper editor to a one year imprisonment and a $2,250 fine is my friend. As a journalist, I am very upset to see that we could be sentenced to jail terms for a mere fact of disseminating the news about alleged wrong doing of public officials. And as the judge’s friend, I am quite troubled to see him made such a lopsided decision. But, putting personal feelings aside, I think our story presents a good opportunity for us to observe how different political and social environments shape our lives.

Before I begun the story, I wish to make it clear to those journalist purists that by writing this story, in which I have a personal connection to the subject, I have violated one of the journalist codes of ethics. However, to be fair to the other Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s judges who had been criticized by me in the past, I am obliged to write this story so that my conscience won’t condemn me for being biased.

Judge Din Sivuthy and I have known each other since we were boys playing in the dusty road in Kompong Thom province. In the early 1990s, as I was studying journalism and political sciences in a U.S. university, Judge Din Sivuthy was studying laws in the former Soviet Union. For about 5 years in which we pursued our respective studies, we exchanged many letters about our perspectives of the world and what our future could become, given the fact that Communism and its dictatorial way of operation has been crumbling down like dominoes. By the late 1990s, as he returned to Cambodia and took up a post in the Cambodian Ministry of Justice, Judge Din Sivuthy and I once again re-established our contact through my frequent visits to Cambodia. Though our ways of life and patterns of thought have been somewhat driven apart by the different political and social environments in which we live, our thoughts at the intellectual levels still have many things in common. I remembered, in 1998 when we first met again, Judge Din Sivuthy and I had a discussion about judicial system in the U.S.A. Throughout our conversation, I could see the wishful thinking in his eyes when I told him that judges in the U.S. are either appointed by the executive branch and confirmed by the legislative branch of government or elected by the people. Once they were appointed to their posts, judges are immune from any influence by the people who appointed them, and they could serve as public servants for the rest of their lives. The only case that a judge could be removed from his/her post is when he or she committed a serious crime.

After listening to my lecture on the U.S. judicial system, Judge Din Sivuthy told me that it would be a dream if Cambodia had such a system in place. At that instance, I wish I could grant him that dream. But, we all know that such a dream in Cambodia is indeed very far-fetched. However, putting negativism aside, I somehow remain optimistic that some day such a dream could come true. All we need is a collective will from everyone involved, especially the top leadership in government, to work together to achieve it.

When we went to school to train to become a journalist or a judge, we all aspired to doing it right according to the knowledge we acquired. But when we deviated from our aspiration to doing it right, we all suffer the consequences—journalist going to jail while judge getting criticized.

Just as I don’t want any judge telling me what I could or could not write on any issue of social concerns, I am fully aware that I have no right to tell Judge Din Sivuthy what to do concerning his duties. But, as his friend, I believe I have a duty to tell him that his sentencing of a newspaper editor, Mr. Hang Chakra, to a one year imprisonment and a $2,250 fine is too excessive. Based on news reports on the case, the crime of reporting false information, which yet to be proven as false, does not warrant jail terms.

Chanda Chhay
Washington, D.C. (USA)

Int'l watchdogs wage war of words over editor's punishment

Thursday, 02 July 2009
The Phnom Penh Post

Hang Chakra must be freed and then articles 62 and 63... must be amended.

INTERNATIONAL watchdogs have joined the chorus of criticism targeting the jailing of opposition newspaper editor Hang Chakra, who was sentenced last Friday to one year in prison after a Phnom Penh court found him guilty of spreading false information.

In a statement Tuesday, Amnesty International called for the government to "squash" the conviction of Hang Chakra and hold an immediate retrial, claiming Friday's proceedings fell short of international legal standards.

"This case demonstrates the absence of an independent judiciary in Cambodia, and the increasing intolerance of dissent and criticism within Cambodia's top echelons of power," Amnesty researcher Brittis Edman said in the statement.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced Hang Chakra, editor-in-chief of the opposition-aligned Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, to a one-year prison term and fined him 9 million riels (US$2,161) for disinformation.

The case was filed in response to a series of articles published in April and May that alleged corruption on the part of officials working under Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.

What the case showed, Edman said, was that the laws governing press freedom in the Kingdom were vague and were now being abused to "harass, intimidate and even jail" government critics.

The France-based Reporters Without Borders agreed, saying that Prime Minister Hun Sen's 2007 decision to decriminalise defamation had been effectively reversed by the use of the UNTAC Criminal Code, rather than the more liberal 1995 Press Law, which does not allow jail sentences.

"His government has now regrettably abused a law about disinformation that was inherited from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)," the group said in a statement Tuesday.

"Hang Chakra must be freed, and then Articles 62 and 63 of the criminal code bequeathed by the UN must be amended."

The two statements came following a similar request from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which said Cambodian courts should not rely on "outdated laws" to prosecute defamation cases.

Jail time for journalists
Yeng Virak, executive director of the Community Legal Education Centre, said that a one-year jail term was disproportionate even if Hang Chakra was guilty.

"We have many ways of handling journalists when they make mistakes. We can have them make corrections when they publish disinformation," he said.

"Using the law to imprison journalists is not right."

But Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said international watchdogs should learn more about the particulars of the Hang Chakra case before passing judgement, adding that many journalists still lacked "professionalism".

"International [organisations] should learn a little more about why that person is in jail, and how many articles and what type of articles were [published]," he said.

"They insulted people, they misled people."

Cambodia: Jailing of newspaper editor setback to free expression

July 1, 2009
Source: Amnesty International

Cambodian judicial authorities should squash last week’s conviction of newspaper editor Hang Chakra for spreading “disinformation” and order an immediate retrial, Amnesty International said today.

“This case demonstrates the absence of an independent judiciary in Cambodia, and the increasing intolerance of dissent and criticism within Cambodia’s top echelons of power,” said Brittis Edman, Amnesty International’s Cambodia researcher.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced Hang Chakra, editor-in-chief of the opposition Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, to a one-year prison term and a fine of nine million riel (approx. 2,250 USD) for “disinformation” on 26 June 2009. He was arrested later that day in Battambang Province and taken to Prey Sar Prison in Phnom Penh.

A government lawyer had filed a complaint against Hang Chakra for “disinformation” and “incitement” in a number of articles published in May related to alleged corruption within the office of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.

Hang Chakra’s defence lawyer had been assigned the case only one day before the hearing and was not able to represent his client in court at such short notice. The Court denied his request for a postponement of the hearing, denying Hang Chakra his right to adequate time to prepare his defense.

“This trial clearly fell short of international human rights law and standards,” Edman said. “The law on disinformation is too broad and open to abuse. Government authorities are now using disinformation and defamation laws to harass, intimidate, and even jail their critics.”

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights recently noted that Cambodia’s top leadership has lodged eight separate criminal defamation and disinformation complaints since April 2009.

“The use of disinformation and defamation charges against peaceful critics of government policy or action violates the rights to freedom of expression and opinion and stifles the political debate in Cambodia”, Edman said.

Amnesty International calls on the Cambodian judicial authorities to order a retrial for Hang Chakra. Amnesty International also calls on the government and national assembly to repeal disinformation and defamation laws or else revise them so that they conform to international human rights law and standards.

Background

The Cambodian Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, and as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Cambodia is obliged to ensure that everyone charged with a criminal offence is entitled to a fair trial. This includes the right to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his or her defence and to communicate with counsel of their choosing.

The 1995 Press Law provides for some protection of journalists, but is rarely used. Instead, Articles 62 and 63 of the so-called 1992 UNTAC Law, Cambodia's current penal code, are used in most legal cases against journalists or media representatives. Article 62 criminalises the publication, distribution or reproduction of false information that "has disturbed or is likely to disturb the public peace," with a custodial sentence of up to three years.

Article 63 provides that allegations against public figures "which the author, the journalist, editor, or producer knows to be false" may constitute defamation. Criminal defamation no longer carries a custodial sentence, since the authorities bowed to pressure to amend the legislation after controversial attempts in 2005 to silence dissent through the courts.

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.

Editor to appeal sentence

Monday, 29 June 2009
Written by Sam Rith and Sebastian Strangio

Hang Chakra verdict threatens press freedoms, journalists say.

An attorney for opposition-aligned newspaper editor Hang Chakra said Sunday that they would appeal a Phnom Penh Municipal Court ruling last week that found him guilty of spreading disinformation, a decision that has prompted a storm of protest from local journalists and media organisations.

In a hearing Friday, Judge Din Sivuthy found Khmer Machas Srok News editor Hang Chakra, 55, guilty under the UNTAC Criminal Code for a series of articles he published in April and May accusing officials working under Deputy Prime Minsiter Sok An of corruption. The court then sentenced him to one year in prison and fined him 9,000,000 riels (US$2,167).

"I will file the complaint to the Appeal Court as soon as possible. I will ask the [Appeal] Court to release my client," said Hang Chakra's lawyer Choung Chou Ngy.

"My client has not received any justice. The court focused mostly on punishing him rather than finding out the truth of the accusations."

Choung Chou Ngy said Hang Chakra was incarcerated at Prey Sar prison, adding that he was to meet with his client today to plan his appeal.

Meanwhile, the jailing of Hang Chakra has been roundly condemned by local journalists, who have decried the decision to prosecute defamation cases under the UNTAC Criminal Code rather than the Kingdom's more liberal 1995 Press Law.

Under the Press Law, publishing false information carries a fine of up to 5 million riels, but under the UNTAC law offenders face prison terms of between six months and three years and a fine of up to 10 million riels.

"[The courts] have never implemented the Press Law in the case of journalists.... They accuse them only of defamation, incitement or insults," said Dam Sith, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the opposition-aligned daily newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer.

Dam Sith, who was detained in Prey Sar prison for a week in June 2008 for reprinting controversial comments made by opposition leader Sam Rainsy, described the arrest and detention of Hang Chakra as a "threat" to journalists who do not toe the government's line.

Sam Rithy Doung Hak, deputy director of the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists, said the Hang Chakra ruling was a case of "deja vu", drawing parallels with a similar crackdown in 2005.

"The government is taking action against whoever it considers to be its critics. It is part of the whole package of the drift towards dictatorship," he said.

Criticism from journalists
The Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) and the Cambodia Watchdog Council also issued statements over the weekend slamming the court's decision.

However, government lawyer Suong Chanthan said he was pleased with the outcome and defended the court's decision to prosecute Hang Chakra under the UNTAC law, saying Hang Chakra had published many "false" articles, in addition to the two - printed on April 5 and May 2 this year - referenced in this case.

But other critics said the prosecution took place on shaky legal ground. Moeun Chhean Nariddh, director of the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies and veteran journalist, said the Press Law was clear in stating that no other law could be used to prosecute journalists.

"The Press Law must supersede the UNTAC Law," he said, though he added that the courts were vulnerable to abuse.

"The government still does not understand what freedom of press and freedom of expression are in a real democracy. The government knows it can do anything," he said.

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.
----------
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.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Nom Benh Hilton

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

Opposition Editor Sentenced in Absentia

By Win Thida, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
26 June 2009

The editor-in-chief of the opposition-aligned Khmer Machas Srok newspaper received a one-year jail sentence and $2,250 fine Friday, following stories accusing a powerful minister of corruption.

Hang Chakra, who was tried in absentia, had reported on alleged corruption under Council Minister Sok An, whose position allows him to oversee important Cambodian projects, such as the Khmer Rouge tribunal and offshore oil exploration.

Latest update on Hang Chakra, the editor-in-chief of Khmer Machas Srok

On June 26, 2009, Hang Chakra, the editor-in-chief of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper was arrested at 3:20 pm in Battambang province after the PPenh court sentenced him to 1 year jail sentence and fined him 9 million riels ($2,250).