A leading pornographic magazine publisher said Tuesday that he has suspended sales, due to Information Minister Khieu Kanharith’s announcement that pornographic magazines that continue to publish will be fined.
Lim El Djurado, who writes and publishes “Teenage Stimulation” and “Rooster,” and is also director of the Ministry of Social Affairs’ department of planning and statistics, said the ban on his magazines has already bankrupted him.
“My magazines are not problematic,” he said, adding that he was not aware of the fine. “The ban made me bankrupt. It’s like a fine already.”
Prior to the ban, Lim El Djurado said that he wrote the magazines on his weekend to help subsidize his government salary.
His daughters helped design and lay out the magazines, which feature relatively tame photos but graphic written content.
“My daughters can accept [the ban] so it is no problem,” Lim El Djurado said. “My magazines have pornographic content but they have educational [content] about sex,” he added. “If they fine me, I would like them to look at what mistakes I commit.”
He did not say when he would start selling his publications again.
Pornographic magazines were not displayed for sale on Phnom Penh’s Street 51 on Tuesday.
One magazine vendor said that Lim El Djurado, who used to distribute the magazines on foot, took the magazines from the shelves himself after the announcement of the ban.
Hun Sen on Feb 8 ordered the Information Ministry to invalidate the licenses of pornographic publications and to remove them from newsstands.
Khieu Kanharith said Tuesday that licenses will not be renewed for pornographic magazines.
He added that magazines that continue to publish will be fined a small amount, though he declined to say how much.
“It’s not a serious problem,” he said. “Many times we ask them to drop these kind of obscene romances. They say ‘yes.’”
