Posted on 14 April 2008.
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 555
Apologies for the late posting of the Saturday materials. - There are now frequent electricity cuts in Phnom Penh, and this resulted also in the delay in producing the Saturday materials in time. Later I was on international flights and could not finish this work earlier.
Because of the Khmer New Year holidays, we will resume normals production only on 17 April 2008.
But we will still post the weekly editorial, due yesterday, in a couple of hours.
Norbert Klein
“Battambang: At 7 o’clock on the morning of 10 April 2008, Radio Free Asia reporter Mr. Lem Piseth’s eleven-year-old daughter found six AK-47 assault rifle cartridges near the fence while she was sweeping the yard in Group 8, Wat Kor village, Battambang. After getting this information, Mr. Lem Piseth hurried to call and to report to the local police and to inform human rights organizations in Battambang immediately.
“Concerning this event, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights is concerned about Radio Free Asia reporter Mr. Lem Piseth’s safety, after finding the cartridges in front of his house on 10 April, because Mr. Lem Piseth had received threats by telephone twice. As a reporter, Mr. Lem Piseth has reported straightforwardly about corruption in the court system, about land disputes with powerful people, and about deforestation at Prey Lang [Kompong Thom], and he published a magazine with the title Free Newspaper.
“All this information may ruin the benefits of or affect the individuals involved. Already on 18 January and again on 15 February 2008, anonymous people had sent him messages by telephone, telling him to be careful, and they even told him to meet them in a hotel, but he did not go out of concern for his safety.
“The Cambodian Center for Human Rights stated that all threats might be related to his work as a reporter. Therefore, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights calls on the authorities to investigate this affair immediately in order to maintain safety for the reporter.
“Regarding the six the AK-47 cartridges, Sey Keokanitha, 11, Mr. Lem Piseth’s daughter, told the local police and district police that she found the six AK-47 cartridges at 7 o’clock in the morning of 10 April 2008, while she was sweeping the yard. As she swept at the gate, she found five AK-47 cartridges very well placed behind the gate, and another cartridge placed in front of the gate. Immediately after she had found the cartridges, she called a boy next door to come and see them. As he recognized that the items were cartridges, the boy told her to inform her father Lem Piseth who was watching television in the room.
“Mr. Lem Piseth said on the morning of 10 April 2008 that while he was watching a Cambodian Television Network channel, his daughter entered the room and told him that these cartridges were placed near the gate. So he went to the gate and saw five cartridges placed behind the gate and another cartridge placed in front of the gate, and then he reported this to the district police, so that they should come to check and make a report.
“The district police and the Wat Kor commune police confirmed that Mr. Lem Piseth, who had just come to live in Wat Kor village about three months ago, has never had any arguments with his neighbors. As for placing the six AK-47 cartridges and the threats by telephone, they considered them personal rancor and not political.”
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4565, 12-17.4.2008
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 555
Apologies for the late posting of the Saturday materials. - There are now frequent electricity cuts in Phnom Penh, and this resulted also in the delay in producing the Saturday materials in time. Later I was on international flights and could not finish this work earlier.
Because of the Khmer New Year holidays, we will resume normals production only on 17 April 2008.
But we will still post the weekly editorial, due yesterday, in a couple of hours.
Norbert Klein
“Battambang: At 7 o’clock on the morning of 10 April 2008, Radio Free Asia reporter Mr. Lem Piseth’s eleven-year-old daughter found six AK-47 assault rifle cartridges near the fence while she was sweeping the yard in Group 8, Wat Kor village, Battambang. After getting this information, Mr. Lem Piseth hurried to call and to report to the local police and to inform human rights organizations in Battambang immediately.
“Concerning this event, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights is concerned about Radio Free Asia reporter Mr. Lem Piseth’s safety, after finding the cartridges in front of his house on 10 April, because Mr. Lem Piseth had received threats by telephone twice. As a reporter, Mr. Lem Piseth has reported straightforwardly about corruption in the court system, about land disputes with powerful people, and about deforestation at Prey Lang [Kompong Thom], and he published a magazine with the title Free Newspaper.
“All this information may ruin the benefits of or affect the individuals involved. Already on 18 January and again on 15 February 2008, anonymous people had sent him messages by telephone, telling him to be careful, and they even told him to meet them in a hotel, but he did not go out of concern for his safety.
“The Cambodian Center for Human Rights stated that all threats might be related to his work as a reporter. Therefore, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights calls on the authorities to investigate this affair immediately in order to maintain safety for the reporter.
“Regarding the six the AK-47 cartridges, Sey Keokanitha, 11, Mr. Lem Piseth’s daughter, told the local police and district police that she found the six AK-47 cartridges at 7 o’clock in the morning of 10 April 2008, while she was sweeping the yard. As she swept at the gate, she found five AK-47 cartridges very well placed behind the gate, and another cartridge placed in front of the gate. Immediately after she had found the cartridges, she called a boy next door to come and see them. As he recognized that the items were cartridges, the boy told her to inform her father Lem Piseth who was watching television in the room.
“Mr. Lem Piseth said on the morning of 10 April 2008 that while he was watching a Cambodian Television Network channel, his daughter entered the room and told him that these cartridges were placed near the gate. So he went to the gate and saw five cartridges placed behind the gate and another cartridge placed in front of the gate, and then he reported this to the district police, so that they should come to check and make a report.
“The district police and the Wat Kor commune police confirmed that Mr. Lem Piseth, who had just come to live in Wat Kor village about three months ago, has never had any arguments with his neighbors. As for placing the six AK-47 cartridges and the threats by telephone, they considered them personal rancor and not political.”
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4565, 12-17.4.2008
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