• by IPS Correspondents (bangkok)
• Saturday, December 17, 1994
• Inter Press Service

BANGKOK, Dic 17 (IPS) - Like indulgent parents, Cambodia watchers have looked on in amusement as Cambodia's young and excessively free press take one vulgar turn after another.

But nobody is laughing these days as the increasingly thin- skinned Phnom Penh government appears set to pass before the end of the year a new press law that could turn journalists into criminals and political prisoners.

Human rights groups and Phnom Penh-based journalists say that the completed draft law, approved by the Cabinet after previous drafts had been vetted and criticised by rights and press groups, is draconian both in its wording and penalties.

"It is causing shivers because no one really knows what it is that could cause a negative impact on politcal stability, foreign relations, national security or could humiliate public institutions or officials," says Michael Hayes, editor of the English-language 'Phnom Penh Post' newspaper.

The penalties for not knowing are severe -- 18 months to three years in jail and fines from 400 to 10,000 dollars, amounts far beyond the capability of local journalists who earn less than three dollars a month.

Human rights activists whose publications and security are also threatened say it is a case of shooting the messenger.

Cambodia's year-old democracy is facing threats on many fronts -- the national assembly, the judiciary, political corruption, the Khmer Rouge, the undisciplined military -- all of which are reflected in the media.

"But the government is unwilling to accept even advice on what to do and so it reacts very negatively to the press in general," says Julio Jeldres of the Khmer Institute of Democracy and a confidant of King Sihanouk. Jeldres had a bitter falling out with Phnom Penh and quit Cambodia early this week.

Jeldres and Hayes were speaking to foreign correspondents in Bangkok this week.

Hayes says the draft press law is the culmination of steadily deteriorating relations between the government and the media going back eight or nine months.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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