Cambodian paper shuts with ‘dictatorship’ parting shot
PHNOM PENH: One of Cambodia’s most stridently independent newspapers, The Cambodia Daily, published its last edition yesterday with the headline “Descent Into Outright Dictatorship” as it closed amid a crackdown on critics of Premier Hun Sen.
The English-language paper had been given a deadline of one month to pay US$6.3 million (RM27 million) for years of back taxes, which the publication disputed and described as “astronomical”.
Its final front page led with the arrest on Sunday of Cambodia’s main opposition leader, Kem Sokha, who was accused of treason in a significant escalation of the campaign against Hun Sen’s opponents. The paper also reported on its own closure.
“We have been a burr in Hun Sen’s side for the entire time that we have been operating,” The Cambodia Daily’s American editor-in-chief Jodie DeJonge said.
“This paper takes special pride in writing about some of the toughest issues,” she told Reuters as journalists polished their final articles and office workers packed everything they could into cardboard boxes.
The paper printed only a few thousand copies a day but had a reputation for breaking news about sensitive topics such as corruption, waste, environmental issues and land rights.
Hun Sen defended the deadline given to the paper, saying it had to pay tax the same as any other business.
“When they didn’t pay and we asked them to leave the country, they said we are a dictatorship,” he said.
Pro-government Fresh News website quoted tax authorities as saying the tax bill stands even if the paper closes and whoever is responsible would be barred from leaving Cambodia until the money is paid. – Reuters