Prison Sentence and Fine Imposed on Opposition Cambodian Editor

Cambodian opposition newspaper editor Hang Chakra was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and fined US$2,800 for publishing "disinformation" about alleged corruption by officials working closely with Senior Primer Minister Sok An.

The Licahdo website, the publication of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, reports that Chakra was eventually arrested and taken to the Prey Sar Prison to serve his sentence.

Prosecutors reacted to articles published in Chakra's Khmer Machach Srok newspaper about the firing of officials who worked with Sok An, who is also the head of the Council of Ministers, and argued that the stories could affect the country's political stability.

The Licadho:

Hang Chakra had originally been summoned to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on June 3 to answer questions regarding controversial articles published in his newspaper. During Chakra's interview, details of informants inside the Council of Ministers who were the source for the stories remained anonymous with Hang Chakra refusing to identify them to the court, as allowed under Article 2 of the Press Law.

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This was not the first time that Hang Chakra and his newspaper, one of the few media outlets not controlled by the ruling party, have come under fire from the government in recent years:

•   In July 2008, an opposition defector and government advisor Sok Pheng threatened to sue Hang Chakra after the paper published an article alleging that Sok Pheng was involved in corrupt activities.
•   In January 2008 Hang Chakra was questioned by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court after Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh filed a defamation lawsuit against him in relation to an article that alleged Cham Prasidh had had an extramarital affair.

Even though the country's current press law decriminalizes defamation offenses, public officials and prosecutors insist on applying other, more punishing statues, such as the one used to imprison Chakra.