Cambodian popular singer Meng Keopichda on May 5 filed a court complaint against
the Samey Thmey magazine for allegedly publishing defamatory information and demanded
$50,000 compensation.
Editor in chief Sam Ath said he had not yet been contacted by the prosecutor.
He said in the March edition of Samey Thmey monthly an article was published about
a "love triangle" between Meng Keopichda and the deputy municipal police
chief, Moung Khim, and his wife. In the next (April) issue the magazine published
an explanation from Moung Khim which said that the affair was not a triangle, but
a relationship between himself and Keopichda.
"If they had written the truth at the start, she would not have filed a complaint,"
Moung Khim told the Post on May 6. "Many magazines and newspapers published
a lot about her story, but she lost her patience with the last Samey Thmey magazine."
Phnom Penh municipal court deputy prosecutor Khut Sopheang said he had received the
complaint and would invite the accused to come to the court next week.
In another action, Senator Van Math has also filed a complaint against Mea Kea Thmey
weekly newspaper for allegedly publishing inaccurate and defamatory information on
March 29.
The complaint asks the court to apply the law and demands $20,000 compensation.
"I let the court solve the problem; what the newspaper wrote is not true,"
Van Math told the Post on May 6.
Ly Horsann, publisher of Mea Kea Thmey, said: "On May 5, the prosecutor invited
me to appear at the court, but I did not go because I was busy. I have already prepared
the evidence to defend myself in court."
Um Sarin, President of the Cambodian Association for Protection of Journalists (CAPJ)
said: "Out of about 300 Cambodian newspapers, only 10 in the Phnom Penh area
consistently publish accurate, balanced, fair articles. Many Cambodian journalists
are lacking professional skills, knowledge of ethics, the law and practice, and experience
in the effective use of information technology."
World Press Freedom Day was marked in Phnom Penh on May 3 by CAPJ and the League
of Cambodian Journalists (LCJ) with a function addressed by Thach Phen, under secretary
of state for the Ministry of Information; Thun Saray, director of human rights group
ADHOC; Meng Rita, deputy secretary general of the Sam Rainsy Party; Um Sarin and
Om Chandara, president of LCJ.
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