Government Seizes Newspaper Supplement

By Win Thida, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
20 May 2008

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The Ministry of Information has begun the seizure of a supplemental section of the English-language Cambodia Daily that covers news about Asean neighbor Burma.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the Daily’s insert was “not a supplement” but a newspaper.

“They must have a license before publishing it,” he said, adding that the Cambodia Daily could face closure itself if it continues publishing the Burma insert.

The Cambodia Daily has run two “Burma Daily” inserts inside it’s own pages, which cover Cambodian, regional and international news. The insert covers news relevant to Burma, which is in the throes of slow governmental response to a devastating cyclone.

The insert has not increased the price of the Cambodia Daily.

Cambodia Daily publisher Bernard Krisher said the insert did not constitute a newspaper and said he would not stop publishing it.

“The confiscation of the newspaper I think is a bad act,” he said, adding that the Cambodia Daily is “an independent newspaper.”