Media Groups Call On ‘Political Elite’ to Protect Reporters

More than a dozen journalism and hu­man rights groups have called on Cambodia’s political forces to protect journalists and guarantee citizens’ access to an open and unobstructed press during the current political unrest. In a statement released Wednesday, the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, along with the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies, Southeast Asia Press Al­liance and the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) is­sued their call to the “political elite”—demanding protection for journalists, promoting discipline among police forces and recognizing international standards of freedom of information. … In September 2012, 42-year-old journalist Hang Serei Odom was found hacked to death and stuffed into the trunk of his Toyota Camry in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Chum district. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights said Hang Serei Odom was the 11th journalist to be killed with impunity since 1994.

Lindsey Peterson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/media-groups-call-on-political-elite-to-protect-reporters-45436/