Killing of Journalist May Not Be Linked to Illegal Fishing Reports
Police in Kompong Chhnang province on Tuesday said they were looking for three suspects in the murder of a local journalist on Friday night and may soon add more names to the list, but still had no motive for the attack. However, the provincial coordinator for rights group Licadho said he had investigated the case and found that the murder likely was not related to the victim’s work as a journalist. Provincial police chief Ath Khem said the attack followed a verbal dispute between Suon Chan, a reporter for the little-known Meakea Kampuchea newspaper, and the suspects, but added that police still did not know what the argument was about. … However, Kong Chanmony, provincial coordinator for rights group Licadho, who interviewed witnesses to the attack, said he had concluded that the fight likely had nothing to do with the question of illegal fishing. “The investigation shows that the fighting between both parties did not happen due to a professional matter,” Mr. Chanmony said. … Moeun Chhean Nariddh, who heads the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies, said he knew the paper as one of the many small publications across the country that publish rarely and irregularly and instead of paying their reporters a salary give them a few dollars per story. He said it was “very common” for some journalists at these small papers to try earning a few extra dollars by using their positions to earn money by writing—or not writing—stories about individuals involved in unlawful activities.
Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/killing-of-journalist-may-not-be-linked-to-illegal-fishing-reports-51448/
