The Straits Times
PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA has set up a 'Freedom Park' designated for political demonstrations in a move critics say is another attempt to protect the government and silence dissenting voices.
The site, which is located far from government buildings and parliament, will be the only space made available to any group wanting to stage a demonstration. Protests at other locations in the capital Phnom Penh will be outlawed.
'This is the place to express opinions,' said the city's police chief, Touch Naruth (pictured). 'I toured the site this morning. This is a public place where up to 5,000 people can gather,' he said, noting that the law only allows a maximum of 200 people to protest and larger gatherings required written permission from the authorities.
That law was passed in October last year, sparking condemnation from rights groups and opposition lawmakers, who accused the ruling Cambodian People's Party of abusing its parliamentary majority to curtail freedom of expression.
Cambodia's defamation laws were also tightened last year after a series of court cases brought against lawmakers and journalists critical of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen and his powerful associates.
The idea for the 'Freedom Park' appears to follow that of Singapore, where protests were made legal in 2008, but only in a designated 'Speakers' Corner'. The Singaporean idea is modelled on a similar place in London's Hyde Park, although Britain's laws do not restrict demonstrations to a single location. -- REUTERS
PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA has set up a 'Freedom Park' designated for political demonstrations in a move critics say is another attempt to protect the government and silence dissenting voices.
The site, which is located far from government buildings and parliament, will be the only space made available to any group wanting to stage a demonstration. Protests at other locations in the capital Phnom Penh will be outlawed.
'This is the place to express opinions,' said the city's police chief, Touch Naruth (pictured). 'I toured the site this morning. This is a public place where up to 5,000 people can gather,' he said, noting that the law only allows a maximum of 200 people to protest and larger gatherings required written permission from the authorities.
That law was passed in October last year, sparking condemnation from rights groups and opposition lawmakers, who accused the ruling Cambodian People's Party of abusing its parliamentary majority to curtail freedom of expression.
Cambodia's defamation laws were also tightened last year after a series of court cases brought against lawmakers and journalists critical of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen and his powerful associates.
The idea for the 'Freedom Park' appears to follow that of Singapore, where protests were made legal in 2008, but only in a designated 'Speakers' Corner'. The Singaporean idea is modelled on a similar place in London's Hyde Park, although Britain's laws do not restrict demonstrations to a single location. -- REUTERS
7 comments:
CAMBODIAN GOVERNMENT ARE FUCKING PATHETIC! THERE ARE MORE THEN 14,000,000 POPOULATION BUT ONLY MAXIMIUM OF 200 CAN EXPRESS THEIR OPINION AGAINST THEM AT A TIME. FUTHERMORE, ITS PROBABLY IN A CAGE, FENSING FACILITY FAR FROM THE CAPITAL.
THE RIGHTS OF EXPRESSION IS UNDER THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS PREAMBLE. THIS RIGHTS GRANTED TO ALL HUMAN REGARDLESS WHERE YOU LIVE AND FROM. THIS RIGHTS IS A BASIC UNIVERSAL RIGHTS SIMPLY BECAUSE WE ARE HUMAN.
PEOPLE SHOULD NOT NEED PERMISSION OR WRITTEN PERMISION FOR PEACE PROTEST. CAMBODIAN GOVERNMENT ARE FUCKING DISGRACEFUL!
Well i guess there will be machine gun mounted on each corner and there will land mine on the ground plus there will be barbed wired all around the field just to make sure no one can escape.
Freedom Park ?? If the park is not chosen by people, it can't be named "Freedom". Having a guilty conscience like a thief, the city authority picked up a deserted
street for democracy preachings in
the vain hope that they could keep the rest of the folks from
being brainwashed by the democracy sermons. This time, they outsmarted themselves.
In hun xen regime, democracy is only word, but not in action.
Freedom Fart
This one eye man regime is a joke. How in the world all these smart people with degrees work for a man that does not even have high school diploma. This is only happening in Cambodia, right?
This only happens in communist states and countries ruled by tyrants. Freedom of expression has been inscribed in the Cambodian constitution, so people must be allowed to express their opinion anywhere and how many people who wanted to join can join. Restrictions of where they can hold a demonstration and how many people can join is very tyrannical and communistic indeed!
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