A GRENADE exploded in the grounds of the Damneung Pelpreuk (Morning News)
newspaper September 7, as violence again returned to Cambodia's
press.
The blast occurred around 7:45pm while publisher Nguon Nuon was
preparing his next day's edition in an upstairs office of his house.
He
and his family escaped unhurt, though a 65-year-old neighbor was wounded
slightly by shrapnel which tore holes through the front gate of Nuon's
house.
The publisher said he initially thought it was a gas explosion in
his downstairs kitchen, until he found glass from his shattered front
door.
Neighbors reported seeing two men on a motorbike outside Nuon's
house at the time of the attack. Police want to question those men.
The
grenade exploded less than half a meter inside Nuon's three-meter high front
gate which stands underneath a tall tree. The site of the explosion led at least
one rival newspaper to publicly suggest Nuon himself had planted it to attract
publicity and sympathy.
A high-ranking police officer, who asked not to
be named, said the police investigation was not complete but he doubted whether
Nuon was responsible. "He was really shocked after the blast and dared not open
his door to other policemen until after I arrived. We are looking at other
possibilities like his articles that might suggest a dispute between him and
other people."
At the Post's press time, the Morning News had not
restarted publication.
The Khmer Journalists Association condemned the
grenade attack as a "senseless, cowardly" act of premeditated
terrorism.
The Human Rights Action Committee of NGOs described it as a
"terrible act" and appealed to the government to find and prosecute the
perpetrators.
The League of Cambodian Journalists and the Ministry of
Information also condemned the attack.
The grenade blast came on a day
symbolic of violence against journalists - the one-year anniversary of the
assassination of Voice of Khmer Youth editor Non Chan on Sept 7 last
year.
Two other Khmer journalists died in violent circumstances in 1994,
while on March 24 last year a grenade was thrown into the office of the
Antarakhum (Intervention) newspaper, injuring five.
