Local newspaper's license suspended [-Details on the suspension of Khmer Amatak newspaper]

The Ministry of Information suspends Khmer Amatak over dispute between the deputy prime minister and an editor

Thursday, October 18, 2007
By Debory Li
AsiaMedia Staff Writer

The Cambodian Ministry of Information issued a suspension against Khmer Amatak, a local newspaper, for one month after editor Bun Tha refused to print a correction for an article about the deputy prime minister.

According to the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), the article, published on Sept. 24, 2007, alleged that two senior officials of the ruling Funcinpec Party, Deputy Prime Minister Nhiek Bun Chhay and Minister of State Serey Kosal, removed the name of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodia's first prime minister and former chairman of the Funcinpec Party, from a school in the Battambang province that he had donated to. The school was renamed, but reports between the Southeast Asian Press Alliance and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) conflict as to whose name it was: Chhay's or Kosal's.

Chhay and the Ministry of Information asked the newspaper to print a correction, but Tha refused, saying he had evidence to support the article's claim and was willing to face the deputy prime minister in court to settle the dispute. Instead, the ministry suspended the newspaper on Oct. 8, 2007.

"If a journalist can prove wrongdoing with hard evidence then it is their duty to report it to the public," said IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park.

The Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ) also expressed its dismay at the ministry's decision.

"By issuing an order to have this newspaper suspended for a month without the court's consent, the [ministry] has clearly sided with [the deputy prime minister], thus violating…freedom of the press in Cambodia," said CAPJ.

Both press rights groups urge the ministry to reverse its decision on the newspaper's suspension and reinstate its license soon.

Gov’t suspends Khmer Amatak newspaper

08 October 2007
By Phan Sophat
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Ministry of Information (MoInf) issued an order on Monday to suspend the publication of Khmer Amatak (Eternal Khmer), a local newspaper supporting Prince Norodom Ranariddh, based on a complaint from Nhiek Bun Chhay, Funcinpec party secretary-general.

In a declaration issued by Khieu Kanharith, the minister of information, the MoInf had decided to suspend the publication of Khmer Amatak for 30-day, but he did not provide any clear reason on this suspension.

Today, Khieu Kanharith could not be contacted to confirm about this issue.

Bun Tha, the editor of Khmer Amatak newspaper, told RFA that he already received the declaration letter from the MoInf. He said that the accusation leveled against his newspaper was political.

Bun Tha said: “The court did not even summon me yet, and the MoInf already suspended me. I must be judged first, if I lose it’s a personal problem, I could pay damage compensation, but the suspension is a violation of the freedom right, just like in Burma. I praise Burma, they allow their people to have their opinion, to have the right to demonstrate. [In Cambodia], because I speak up, they shut me down, they don’t allow me to speak up, this is a serious right violation in Cambodia, currently. Democracy is only on the tongue, but when it comes to application of the law, the law is not being used.”

Khmer Amatak is a pro-Ranariddh newspaper, and it recently published a number of articles criticizing the Funcinpec party in which Nhiek Bun Chhay is its secretary-general.

In a letter sent by Nhiek Bun Chhay to Khieu Kanharith requesting the suspension of Khmer Amatak, he accused the newspaper of publishing articles affecting his honor, and that of Funcinpec, by publishing that he (Nhiek Bun Chhay) is suspected on involvement in drug trafficking following the seizure by the authority of several tons of raw material for producing drugs in Kampong Speu, and the newspaper also criticized Nhiek Bun Chhay of stealing the achievements of Prince Ranariddh, etc…

Thun Saray, Director of the Adhoc human rights organization, said that the decision issued by the MoInf shows a bad sign: “This is a worrying case when a government leader can order the suspension of a newspaper like this. In the future, this could serve as a precedent for a bad habit, and it could affect the press freedom right of reporters in general. This does not affect just newspapers, it could affect radio stations also. Therefore, it could affect the freedom of expression of the public in general.”

The suspension order of Khmer Amatak newspaper comes at a time when political and legal pressures are being applied on Prince Ranariddh who is currently living abroad, with the aim of forcing him to return back home to participate in next year’s general election.