A JOURNALIST accused of trying to extort money from a warehouse owner in Siem Reap province’s Varin district failed to appear at the provincial court for questioning yesterday, saying he feared arrest. Phlong Ret, a former reporter for Ta Prum newspaper, said yesterday that he tried to seek a lawyer from the Cambodian Defenders Project, but was scared after workers for the legal aid group told him they were “unsure” if they could take on his case. “I don’t have money to hire a private lawyer,” he said. Phlong Ret was summoned in relation to a 2008 incident in which a group of reporters allegedly photographed a logging truck and military vehicles escorting it.