PHNOM PENH, Jul 20 (IPS) - These are tough times to be either a journalist or an opposition politician in Cambodia.
That is because the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen is cracking down on both the opposition-aligned media and politicians from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP).
In June, an editor of a newspaper affiliated with the SRP was jailed for a year for publishing a story the government objected to. The publisher of the newspaper ‘Moneaksekar Khmer’, was told this month that he would be sued after publishing a series of articles that the prosecutor said was designed to sow conflict between government ministers.
On the political front, two opposition members of parliament were stripped of their immunity and are being sued. Their lawyer recently quit their cases and the SRP and crossed over to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) after being told he would be sued.
Two other opposition MPs have been told they could have their immunity taken away too. Two NGOs have also received threats of lawsuits.
There are fears that this South-east Asian country’s democracy is under threat as the CPP -- which won more than two-thirds of the seats in the 2008 general election and which controls all the organs of state and the judiciary – moves against dissenters.
"We are being treated like the enemies of the state. It’s a crisis in this country," veteran opposition MP Son Chhay said.
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