Cambodian court accuses journalists of pornography

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian court has charged two journalists with producing pornography in addition to espionage charges they already face for filing news reports to a US-funded radio station, their lawyer said yesterday.

Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) was shut in Cambodia last year amid a crackdown on the opposition and media by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has accused the US of trying to end his rule of more than 33 years.

A Cambodian rights group described the new charges against former RFA journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin as another attack on the free press.

Their lawyer, Keo Vanny, said the court had informed him of the pornography charges on Wednesday, which carries a prison sentence of up to one year in prison.

They had committed no such crime, he said.

Pro-government media have published pixelated images of people in sexual positions and said that they are related to the case, but the accused are not identifiable in any of the images.

Court spokesman Ly Sophanna and RFA did not respond to requests for comment.

Rights groups have condemned the detention of the men, who were arrested in November and charged with espionage for filing news reports to RFA.

They deny the accusation and say they were just doing their job.

Chak Sopheap, executive director at the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said the pornography charges appeared aimed at destroying the pair’s reputations.

“This entire prosecution should be seen for what it is: a blatant attempt to limit press freedom, and to silence and intimidate all independent journalists in Cambodia who dare to speak and reveal the truth,” she said. – Reuters