BBC Report Says Media Stifled, Journalists Targeted in Cambodia

In a week that has seen one journalist murdered and another threatened for their investigations into corruption and forest crimes, a timely new study into the state of Cambodia’s media has found that the country’s press is being stifled. Eleven journalists have now been killed in the country since 1993. … “Criticism of the government is an increasingly risky venture,” the report by BBC Media Action, the BBC’s international development charity, states. … The authors of the study also noted that the country’s Press Law “limits…freedoms with clauses that allow for the suspension of a newspaper if it harms national security or political stability or if it humiliates politicians.” … The Khmer press is politically affiliated, the report said, noting that English-language newspapers are given relatively free rein, likely because they reach limited audiences and are not considered a threat. …