Apologies for a Technical Delay in Our Regular Sequence of Publications – Saturday, 18.12.2010

The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 695

Note:

Apologies for the delay in our regular publications for technical reasons.

The last upload of The Mirror was on Friday, 17.12.2010: How to Cross Borders – to Become Better Neighbors.

It may take until Tuesday 21.12.2010, mid morning, to resume the normal course of publications, then still relating to and designated as Week 695, though we are actually already beyond that time.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

But we use this delay, exceptionally, to relay the major sections of two pieces of information from The Cambodia Daily of 20.12.2010, which are important enough to be shared more widely.

Norbert KLEIN
The Mirror

WFP Employee Sentenced in Rapid-Fire Trial

By Eang Mengleng and Ian Williamson
The Cambodia Daily

Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday convicted an employee of the UN World Food Program of incitement and sentenced him to six months in jail, less than 48 hours after he was first arrested for distributing leaflets critical of the government, court officials and police said yesterday…

Seng Kunakar was given a six-month sentence and fined Riel 1 million, or about US$250, for printing and distributing leaflets that criticized government figures, according to Judge Kor Vanndy.

“The court found him guilty of the crime of incitement on Sunday and sent him to prison that same day,” he said, adding that Mr. Kunakar was charged under Article 495 of the new penal code, which came into effect 10 days ago.

“We are purely a development agency not involved in any political activity and abide entirely to humanitarian principles, which include impartiality,” the WFP Country Director Jean-Pierre de Margerie said in an e-mail.

Prime Minister Hun Sen recently lashed out at the WFP, accusing it of falsely reporting that Cambodia faced a food shortage. The WFP Cambodia office denied reporting any such claim.

“There is no indication that these two events are related…”

Chou Sokheng, Mr Kunakar’s lawyer, said his client had confessed to printing material from the Internet to read with his co-workers and friends, but did not distribute the material.

“He told the judge that he did no incite the public to commit crimes against the government as the court charged,” Mr Sokheng said…

People have the right to express themselves, or to have access to information in a democratic country. This arrest shows that the right of freedom of expression and the right to have access to information are limited,” said Chan Soveth, head monitor for rights group ADHOC.

Rights group LICADHO released a statement yesterday calling for the conviction to be overturned.

“This rushed trial and groundless conviction is further proof of the growing crackdown on freedom of expression by the Cambodian government,” the statement read…

A government spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Few Answers One Year After Uighur Deportations
Cases of Uighurs, Montagnards, spotlight treatment of asylum-seekers

By Julia Wallace
The Cambodia Daily

One year ago, 20 ethnic Uighur asylum-seekers in Phnom Penh under the protection of the UN refugee agency were removed from their safe house at gunpoint, loaded onto a charter flight under cover of night and repatriated to China, a country that considered them criminals eligible for execution.

The day before the 19 December 2009 deportation, Cambodia passed a long-awaited sub-decree that transferred control of refugee status assessments to the government and away from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The day after the deportation, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrived in Phnom Penh bearing US$1.2 billion in interest free loans.

To this day, nobody knows what has happened to the Uighurs.

Human Rights Watch on Friday called on the Chinese government to account for the whereabouts of the deportees, who included a pregnant woman and two babies, saying they had simply “disappeared” and were facing a “clear risk of torture.”

Have a look at the last editorial – you can access it directly from the main page of the Mirror.
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