News

A small gathering to mark World Teachers’ Day at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park briefly descended into chaos Sunday when a crowd of rally-goers wrested a concealed gun from a man working for the Ministry of Information after he forced his way to the front of ...

An increasing number of Cambodians have access to the Internet due to ownership of smartphones, tablets and the expansion of wireless broadband to rural areas of Cambodia, but access does not mean freedom from restrictions, according to a new report by New York-based Freedom House. In ...

A coalition of 30 NGOs on Friday called on the Government to draft and pass a freedom of information law to overthrow its “culture of secrecy”. The groups said Saturday is the 10th Right to Know Day, but that Cambodians are being denied a “fundamental human ...

Cambodia postponed U.S.-backed military assistance programs immediately after the July 28 national election, officials of both countries confirmed Tuesday, in a move that analysts said reflects a strain in relations after years of strengthening military ties. The U.S. has in recent years expanded training and other ...

The government’s Anti-Corruption Unit has sent a letter to the Ministry of Information asking it to respond to allegations that its officials demanded bribes to let applicants pass exams for jobs in the ministry, a letter published on the ACU’s website reveals. ACU President Om Yentieng’s ...

The Ministry of Information on Saturday lifted a ban on the broadcast of all Khmer-language foreign radio programs by FM stations during the month leading up to the July 28 national election amid swift and harsh rebuke from the U.S. and the broadcasters themselves. The ministry ...

The Ministry of Information has banned the broadcast of all Khmer-language programs by foreign radio stations for the entire 31 days of the pre-election campaign period and on election day, July 28, warning that legal action will ensue if stations fail to comply. The ban, announced ...

Despite fears that a warning to users of social media and Internet blogs will dampen free speech, the head of National Election Committee (NEC) has insisted the intention was not to limit expression ahead of July’s national election. The NEC last week issued a statement requesting ...

The National Television of Cambodia and the Mass Communication Organization of Thailand (MCOT) on Tuesday signed a television cooperation agreement, focusing on the exchange of TV programs and information. The deal was inked between director general of the National Television of Cambodia Kem Gunawadh and MCOT’s ...

The president of the Bar Association of Cambodia has hit back at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), which called for assurances that the Bar Association’s newly launched Code of Ethics, which was unveiled on Friday, would allow Cambodian lawyers to freely express themselves without ...

A controversial order instructing lawyers to consult the Cam­bodian Bar Association before making public statements was triggered by comments made by an attorney involved in the high-profile legal battle involving mo­bile operator Mfone, a spokes­man confirmed on Monday. Kuoy Thunna—who is representing Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei ...

Lawyers must now obtain permission from the Cambodian Bar Association before speaking to television and radio media in order to ensure that they do not speak out of turn, the association’s president said in a meeting on Friday. “First, we want to ensure a high quality ...

Government spending next year will total more than $3 billion, a 16.2 percent increase from the $2.6 billion set aside for 2012, according to a draft of the national budget obtained Friday. The budget states that the government will allocate some $400 million, or 13.32 ...

They came from down the road and from across the country, trailing flags and portraits in their wake. They paused to pin thin black ribbons and coarse patches of cloth onto blazing white shirts. And, one by one, starting early yesterday morning, Cambodian mourners lined the ...

The Ministry of Information and Council of Ministers has summoned representatives from US government-funded radio stations for an unprecedented meeting to discuss the stations’ content, goals and level of professionalism, government officials said yesterday. In a letter dated Monday and signed by Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice ...

A new Russian-Cambodian digital satellite television service plans to have 400,000 subscribers in the next two years with 60 channels in Khmer, English, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese and other languages. The venture between Russia’s General Satellite and Cambodia’s Royal Group was soft-launched last night at Sofitel, with ...

As questions linger over the fate of the independent Beehive Radio station in the wake of its owner’s arrest, a government official yesterday insisted there were no plans to stop it from broadcasting, despite its often critical stance toward the ruling party. “No plan to shut ...

Detained French architect Patrick Henri Devillers boarded a flight to China late last night after being held in custody in Cambodia for more than a month for his links to the biggest political scandal to hit China in decades, a government spokesman said. At Phnom Penh ...

While observers yesterday accused the government of censorship for ordering radio stations not to transmit international broadcasters over the election weekend, a government spokesman defended the move. On Sunday, a Ministry of Information official said the ministry had ordered local F.M. stations not to transmit Voice ...

The two US-backed media outlets and a local NGO’s news service whose broadcasts in Khmer were yanked off the airwaves by government officials before Sunday’s elections aren’t staying silent about the effect of such a move, with one calling it a giant step backward for ...

The Ministry of Information ordered local radio stations not to transmit programs from U.S.-backed broadcasters over the election weekend, an official said. Voice of America (VOA), the U.S. government’s official broadcaster overseas, and Radio Free Asia (RFA), a station funded in part by the U.S. government, ...

Minister of Information Khieu Kanarith has encouraged all provincial and city information departments to set up and maintain their own homepages, websites and profiles on the Internet, including popular social networking sites such as Facebook, officials said yesterday. The minister, who posts frequent updates ...

The upcoming visit of Chinese president Hu Jintao to Cambodia next week will build closer ties between the two countries, China and ASEAN as the visit is coincided with the 20th ASEAN Summit, said a senior official Sunday. The visit will also create more confidence among ...

The Ministry of Information on Tuesday ordered two Khmer-language newspapers owned by the same publisher to halt publication for failing to follow ministry rules. In a notice signed by Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, Phnom Penh-based The Water and Fire News and The World newspapers ...