News
Drop journalists’ ‘espionage’ charges, urges rights group
Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement on Wednesday urging Cambodian authorities to drop espionage charges which it deemed politically motivated against two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists and free them of court supervision. But Ministry of Justice spokesman Chin Malin dismissed the statement ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/drop-journalists-espionage-charges-urges-rights-group
Stung Treng authorities reject RFA timber trafficking claim
The Stung Treng provincial department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries rejected a Radio Free Asia (RFA) report which claimed that on March 27, there was a resurgence of illegal timber trafficking activities near the Lower Sesan II Dam. ...
Ry Sochan
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/stung-treng-authorities-reject-rfa-timber-trafficking-claim
‘All media outlets must pay tax’
Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on Friday said Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) would be allowed to reopen their offices only after fulfilling their tax obligations. In a letter dated January 25 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, ...
Mech Dara
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/all-media-outlets-must-pay-tax
Journos: Drop RFA charges
Some 40 local and international journalists from several media outlets in Cambodia released an open letter on Thursday, calling for the court to drop charges against two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) reporters. The call comes following the release of journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang ...
Long Kimmarita
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/journos-drop-rfa-charges
RFA ‘spies’ released on bail
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday freed on bail, two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) reporters, who were charged with espionage. Oun Chhin, 49, and Yeang Sochea Meta (Sothearin), 35, were arrested by the Meanchey district authorities on November 14, last year, and spent ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Soth Koemsoeun
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rfa-spies-released-bail
Gov’t mocks Human Rights Watch over appeal for journalists’ release
The rights group, HRW, had called for the release of Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, two Radio Free Asia reporters who were jailed on treason charges for allegedly continuing to work for RFA after it had left the country under government pressure. ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/government-mocks-human-rights-watch-over-appeal-for-journalists-release/4396640.html
Press freedom ‘collapsed’ in 2017, journalist survey says
The “façade of media freedom” in the Kingdom “collapsed” last year, with journalists reporting a sharp drop in their hopes for independent press, according to the results of a new survey launched yesterday. The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) study surveyed 75 journalists from ...
Rinith Taing
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/press-freedom-collapsed-2017-journalist-survey-says
Jailed ex-RFA reporters to appeal detention at Supreme Court
The defence lawyer for two former Radio Free Asia reporters will file an appeal with the Supreme Court tomorrow challenging their detention on charges of “espionage”. The Appeal Court upheld their pre-trial detention last week. ...
Kim Sarom
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/jailed-ex-rfa-reporters-appeal-detention-supreme-court
Journalists call for release of former RFA staff
A group of local journalists have written an open letter calling for the release of former Radio Free Asia journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, who were arrested earlier this month. ...
Mom Sophon
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5091112/journalists-call-release-former-rfa-staff/
Ex-RFA reporters detained in capital
Two former Radio Free Asia reporters arrested on Tuesday night remained in detention at Phnom Penh Municipal Police headquarters yesterday evening, with authorities confirming that the pair were under investigation for allegedly sending news reports to the radio broadcaster. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ex-rfa-reporters-detained-capital
Plug pulled on critics’ airtime
The Ministry of Information has closed down multiple radio stations that have been renting airtime to the opposition CNRP party and to two radio news organisations that have been under fire from the government. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5079678/plug-pulled-critics-airtime/
Minister of Information: We tax only stations that rent and use local frequency
After receiving a letter from the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the request to take actions against the Radio Free Asia and the Voice of America located in Cambodia, which have been actively engaged in broadcasting and renting airtime from other radio stations yet ...
Un Rithy
http://www.akp.gov.kh/kh/?p=193541
After Cambodia Daily’s $6M bill, tax authority targets RFA, VOA
Popular media outlets Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have become the latest to draw the attention of the government for allegedly not paying taxes, one week after a letter to the Cambodia Daily demanding more than $6 million in back taxes was leaked. ...
Niem Chheng and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/after-cambodia-dailys-6m-bill-tax-authority-targets-rfa-voa
Rainsy says China aid to blame for rights abuses
Days after signing a statement welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping to Cambodia, opposition leader Sam Rainsy took to Radio Free Asia to slam China for enabling human rights abuses in the Kingdom with no-strings-attached loans. ...
Cristina Maza
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rainsy-says-china-aid-blame-rights-abuses
Hun Sen says peace trumps free expression
A day after the ruling party filed a defamation complaint against one of the country’s most prominent political commentators, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday defended limitations on freedom of speech as being necessary for peace and stability. ...
Taylor O'Connell and Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-says-peace-trumps-free-expression-111805/
Four face charges in incitement case
Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday summonsed three well-known rights workers and a journalist to appear for questioning next week over years-old incitement charges in connection with a long-standing land dispute. In a summons signed by deputy provincial prosecutor Chea Sopheak, the court ordered Radio Free Asia journalist Sok Ratha, ...
Quote 'Out of Context' Says Women's Minister
Women’s Affairs Minister Ing Kantha Phavi said yesterday that comments she made in a radio broadcast last week, in which she appeared to blame female Boeng Kak protesters for bringing police violence on themselves, were taken out of context from a radio interview given some ...
NGOs Criticize Flouted Land Grant Ban
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has given approval to grant state-owned land to three private companies despite issuing a temporary ban on land concessions, drawing criticism from local NGOs concerned about increasingly frequent land disputes in the country. Copies of three subdecrees obtained by RFA showed ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/land-concessions-06202012182023.html
Radio Ban Sparks Debate of Media Freedom in Cambodia
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 ...
Ministry Bans US-Backed Radio Broadcasts for Election Weekend
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, ...
Rubber Gives New Bounce to Economy
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen announced plans Thursday to encourage rubber smallholdings in a bid to expand production as the country promotes the cash crop as the number two commodity after rice. Hun Sen said the government will support not only large-scale rubber plantations but also ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/rubber-04122012174332.html