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| Southeast Asia |
| Not a dictatorial regime |
| 2009-08-06 |
| [Straits Times] PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIAN Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday warned critics that they risked facing legal action if they called the country a 'dictatorial regime'. 'Be careful with the language of 'dictatorial regime'. Be careful, (or) one day legal action will be used,' Mr Hun Sen said during a graduation ceremony in the capital Phnom Penh. The premier's warning appeared to be aimed at those who allege senior Cambodian officials have over the past several months used defamation lawsuits against critics to impede freedom of expression in the country. 'This is a constitutional monarchy... Don't curse it as a dictatorial regime - be careful!' Mr Hun Sen said. '(And) when legal action is used, you guys would say freedom of expression is prohibited, but your expression is wrong,' he added. Mr Hun Sen's remarks came a day after a court found outspoken opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua guilty of defaming him and ordered her to pay more than 4,000 dollars in fines and compensation. Local human rights group Licadho said the verdict was 'predictably unjust, and shows yet again how the courts are controlled by the government and used as a weapon against its political opponents'. There have been three defamation or disinformation convictions against Cambodian government critics in just over a month, the United Nations human rights office said Wednesday. New York-based Human Rights Watch recently alleged Hun Sen's government aimed to silence political opposition and critics with a 'campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action.' |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Sounds like: flag@whitehouse.gov |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-08-06 00:38 |