THE Club of Cambodian Journalists on Tuesday issued a statement condemning the alleged assault of a reporter for the newspaper Rasmey Kampuchea in Banteay Meanchey province, and the organisation’s president said he was preparing a complaint to be filed in provincial court.

Vorng Tho, 36, said he was pursuing a story on illegal gambling on Monday evening when, as he was taking photographs of a house he believed doubled as a gambling venue, about 10 people came out and began beating him. Three people assaulted him particularly savagely, he added.

“They wanted to kill me because when they fought me, I heard [one of the three principal assailants] order her son to take a stick to fight me until I died, but I am lucky because I was helped by the people around that place,” he said.

The three alleged assailants have been arrested, and Orm Phearith, deputy military police director in Banteay Meanchey, said he was investigating the case and would send them to court on Tuesday evening.

The CCJ statement issued Tuesday urged the provincial court to put the three suspected attackers on trial “to find justice for the victim”.

CCJ President Pen Samitthy said he was preparing a court complaint, adding that members of his organisation would follow the case closely “until we see that the court has punished them for what they did to the reporter”.