TWENTY-TWO RCAF officers who have sued Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Ho Vann for defamation are demanding that he pay them 10 million riels (US$2,412) each, their lawyers said Wednesday at a hearing at Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

The suit stems from an April 2009 article published in The Cambodia Daily newspaper in which Ho Vann was quoted as saying that academic degrees awarded to the officers by a Vietnamese military institute were "worthless".

Ho Vann was not present at the hearing on Wednesday, but wrote in a statement read to the court that the article had misquoted him, and that after writing a clarification letter, he considered the matter resolved.

Neou Vannarin, the reporter who wrote the article and has also been charged in the case, was not present, but was represented by Sok Dara of the Cambodian Defenders Project.

Cambodia Daily Editor-in-Chief Kevin Doyle, however, appeared for questioning and said that Ho Vann had been quoted accurately, but that the interview was not recorded.

The officers' lawyers told the court that they sought compensation only from Ho Vann.

Judge Sin Visal said that a verdict would be announced September 22.