Kevin Doyle shows up in court on 9th September, 2009.Source: Radio Free Asia
Reported in English by Khmerization
Cambodian journalists said they are now afraid to write articles critical of government officials after an increasing number of their colleagues have been fined and jailed. They have accused the government of trying to suppress their press freedom by using disinformation laws to silence and jail them.
A journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity said: "This shows that they (government officials) have used court system to suppress the press freedom of journalists who dare to criticise any government officials who have committed impropriety in the society."
Mr. Tith Sothea, spokesman for the Quick Reaction Unit of the Council of Ministers, dismissed the accusations by saying that journalists should be more truthful in their reports. He said: "Journalists should not lie, exaggerate or fabricate information that deviate from the truth. They should publish honest information with fair commentaries and criticism."
Recently, Kevin Doyle, editor-in-chief of the Cambodia Daily, and Neou Vannarin, the Cambodia Daily reporter, were each fined $1000 for defamation when they quoted MP Ho Vann's criticism of the qualifications awarded to 22 Cambodian military officers by the Vietnamese Military Institute.
But Mr. Tith Sothea said: "The Cambodia Daily has not published corrections that His Excellency Ho Vann has asked to be corrected, even in the Khmer language, but they did not publish the corrections. We have documents which shows that the corrections were instead published in the Phnom Penh Post and Mr. Ho Vann himself said that the Cambodia Daily was the one that exaggerate (his comments)."
In 2009, 8 journalists have been sentenced to jail term by the courts, 2 have been fined and 10 are still under lawsuits ranging from defamation to incitements.
Reported in English by Khmerization
Cambodian journalists said they are now afraid to write articles critical of government officials after an increasing number of their colleagues have been fined and jailed. They have accused the government of trying to suppress their press freedom by using disinformation laws to silence and jail them.
A journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity said: "This shows that they (government officials) have used court system to suppress the press freedom of journalists who dare to criticise any government officials who have committed impropriety in the society."
Mr. Tith Sothea, spokesman for the Quick Reaction Unit of the Council of Ministers, dismissed the accusations by saying that journalists should be more truthful in their reports. He said: "Journalists should not lie, exaggerate or fabricate information that deviate from the truth. They should publish honest information with fair commentaries and criticism."
Recently, Kevin Doyle, editor-in-chief of the Cambodia Daily, and Neou Vannarin, the Cambodia Daily reporter, were each fined $1000 for defamation when they quoted MP Ho Vann's criticism of the qualifications awarded to 22 Cambodian military officers by the Vietnamese Military Institute.
But Mr. Tith Sothea said: "The Cambodia Daily has not published corrections that His Excellency Ho Vann has asked to be corrected, even in the Khmer language, but they did not publish the corrections. We have documents which shows that the corrections were instead published in the Phnom Penh Post and Mr. Ho Vann himself said that the Cambodia Daily was the one that exaggerate (his comments)."
In 2009, 8 journalists have been sentenced to jail term by the courts, 2 have been fined and 10 are still under lawsuits ranging from defamation to incitements.
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