Journalist Intimidated and Sued

A reporter for a local Khmer version newspaper, Sthabna Cheat Khmer was intimidated and his camera was grabbed while he was trying to take pictures of 3 ox carts carrying timbers out of the forest and two forest administrative officials were there trying to stop the carts in Kilometer 8, Thnal Dach village, Darin commune, Sotr Nikum district, Siem Reap province.

Teng Thon, 30, the journalist described the event that at first, the officials were about to get bribe from the cart owners, but when he took pictures, they turned out to stop the carts. At the mean time, one of the officials asked him to take photos and cast on CTN or Bayon TV in order to be more famous. Shortly after, the official walked up to him, grabbed his neck and seized his camera to delete the pictures. He was calling the police officers around for assistance, but they paid no attention. Mr. Teng Thon said one of the officials named Tuan Mengly and the other was unaware.

After the event, he filed a complaint with District Police Office and Provincial Court against those officials for intimidating a journalist. His case was not taken into account.

In contrast, the journalist was countersued by the officials for obstructing them during implementing their task; and he was summoned for questioning on April 8, 2010.