Journalists to Visit Jailed Opposition Editor

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
12 June 2008

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Members of the Club of Cambodian Journalists on Friday will visit jailed opposition editor Dam Sith, who remains in Prey Sar prison despite calls for his release.

Seven members of the club will visit Dam Sith in his cell at Prey Sar prison, Pan Samitik, chairman of the association, said. The courts had granted permission for the meeting, he said.
The purpose of the visit is to see Dam Sith's conditions in jail, he said.

Phnom Penhn Municipal Court Judge Chhay Kong said had agreed to allow the visit.

Rights groups and an international journalist organization on Thursday condemned the arrest as an assault on press freedom and an act of intimidation ahead of general elections in July.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong filed suit against the editor April 25, claiming a story he published in Moneaksekar Khmer, a daily newspaper, defamed him by quoting accusations from opposition leader Sam Rainsy the minister was a member of the Khmer Rouge.