Judges Told Defamation Is Still a Criminal Offense

The Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Council of Magistracy have directed all judges to continue treating defamation as a serious criminal offense, slightly more than a month after Prime Min­ister Hun Sen called for de­f­a­ma­tion to be decriminalized.

In a letter received Friday, Min­i­ster of Justice Ang Vong Vathana and President of the Supreme Court Dith Monty told judges to continue operating under Article 63 of the Untac law, and instructed them to continue to issue fines and jail time to those convicted of defamation.

Article 63 states that those convicted of defamation may be jailed from eight days to one year and fined between $250 and $2,500, or both.

“If anyone has committed de­f­a­ma­tion by insults, without seriously damaging the reputation or dignity of an individual, the court should hand down only a fine,” the March 21 letter stated.

“Defamation that causes instability to the public and social or­der, or causing turmoil in political stability or national security, the court must follow Article 63 of the Un­tac law,” the letter continued.

Ang Vong Vathana and Justice Min­istry Secretary of State Tuot Lux could not be reached for com­ment.

Hun Sen surprised many on Feb 14 when he called for the de­crim­inalization of defamation and op­posed a draft of the country’s new penal code written with French assistance, which contained articles on defamation.

At that time, the prime minister had recently won a criminal def­a­mation lawsuit against Sam Rain­sy, leader of the party that bears his name, and several activists jailed on def­a­ma­tion charges had recently been re­leased from prison.

Government spokesman and In­formation Minister Khieu Kan­ha­rith was unavailable to comment on Monday.

“We are very, very concerned. I think essentially it shows we are go­ing back to square one,” said Ou Virak, spokesman for the Cam­bodian Center for Human Rights, whose director, Kem Sok­ha, was among those accused of def­a­ma­tion and then jailed.

Thun Saray, president of local rights group Adhoc, said Hun Sen’s statements had obviously been little more than lip service for in­ter­national donors.

Thun Saray added that the situation is just as tenuous for critics of the government now as it was be­fore.

“I think it is the same, no difference. People will be put in jail again,” he said.

He said that unless Article 63 is im­mediately repealed, it looked as if Hun Sen had been “put­ting on a show” for the Con­sultative Group members, who met at the beginning of March.

Thun Saray also said that the draft penal law must be rewritten.

Sok Sam Oeun, president of the Cambodian Defenders Pro­ject, agreed. He said the current situation creates uncertainty not only for Hun Sen’s critics and for journalists, but for government and court officials as well.

“They are still confused, too,” he said.