Amata Editor Sued for Defamation and Disinformation

A local Khmer version publisher for Amata Newspaper was summoned by Phnom Penh Municipal Court on March 22, 2010 for defamation and disinformation, according to a complaint by Mr. Kao Kimhuan, the director of Cambodia University and the secretary of state of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Bun Tha, the publisher, told other reporters the reason he had been sued as he left the courtroom that the case was related to two articles, published in 2009 about students’ complaints over an unofficial 20,000-riel fee collected on applications for a scholarship sponsored by the Japanese government and Prime Minister Hun Sen. However, those applications were supposed to hand out free of charge.

According to the interview with the Radio Free Asia, published on March 22, 2010, Mr. Kao Kimhuan said that Mr. Bun Tha had written uncontrollably and irresponsibly. He said that the applications were publicly issued and all students voluntarily bought them; and the fee was equal for everyone. The articles had defamed him, he said, he had asked for corrections for several times; but Mr. Bun Tha had denied that. Therefore he decided to file a complaint against the publisher.

However, Mr. Bun Tha said that it was not a good point for a high ranking official in the government to sue him only because he did his own job as a journalist.

The above case has been seen that the publisher was intimidated; and his freedom of expression was also abused.

Therefore the above act of the official violated the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Cambodian constitution on freedom of expression through media.