Where truth often gets ignored

On Friday morning, two sources quoted in a report on illegal logging will face questioning at the hands of a Kandal province prosecutor over allegations that they defamed Cambodian tycoon Try Pheap.

Under the Cambodian penal code, the legal definition of defamation is much like that in established democracies – a defamatory statement must not only result in harm to the subject’s reputation but must also be demonstrably false.

However, due to defamation laws’ often capricious application, observers say, the factual basis of the statements by Sen San and Ouk Sambo, which largely relate to Pheap’s alleged involvement in illegal logging, won’t necessarily even be explored.

“Right now, in our current system, our police don’t need to investigate,” lawyer Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, said yesterday. …

“The presumption of innocence is abolished. Because it means that one judge, and a prosecutor … two magistrates, believe there is enough proof,” he said. “So this decision [in and of itself] is enough evidence [for a conviction].” …

 Stuart White and Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/where-truth-often-gets-ignored