The Club of Cambodian Journalists has issued a statement criticizing the Phnom Penh Municipal court for ordering a newspaper to pay $17,500 in a defamation suit.
The court Thursday found The Voice of Khmer Youth, a pro-Sam Rainsy Party newspaper, guilty of printing false information and defaming the Mong Reththy group and RCAF Division 44 in a story implicating them in illegal logging.
“CCJ thought the trial was not fair at all,” the club release stated. “Ordering the accused to pay 71 million riel (about $17,750) is a pressure to threaten the spirits of the press and the broadcasting media in Cambodia which are actively participating in the process of democracy.”
The court ordered Editor in Chief Keo Sothea, to pay 30 million riel (about $7,500) to Mong Reththy and 20 million riel (about $5,000) each to Military Region 3 Commander Keo Samuon and his deputy, Keo Pong.
