Saturday, 24 May 2008

Ban on Burma Daily Should Cease: Group

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
23 May 2008

Khmer audio aired May 23 (876KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired May 23 (876KB) - Listen (MP3)

New York-based Human Rights Watch condemned Friday the ban by the government on the Cambodia Daily newspaper’s attempt to publish a supplemental insert, the “Burma Daily.”

By banning the insert, the Cambodian government was covering up abuses and other flaws of the Burmese junta, Human Rights Watch said.

Authorities have ordered copies of the insert to be seized.

“Cambodia’s press censorship on behalf of Burma’s abusive military government is shameless,” said Human Rights Watch Asia Director Brad Adams.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith dismissed the call, saying Adams did not understand Cambodia’s press law.

Cambodia Daily publisher Bernard Krisher said the insert does not require a separate license to publish, as claimed by the Information Ministry.

No comments: