Afflicting the comfortable

Government spokesperson Khieu Kanharith, with the apparent backing of the establishment, has asked newspaper editors to stop protecting the rich and thuggish.

A few hours after the publication by local newspapers that the authorities had arrested a navy general’s son without mentioning the names clearly yesterday morning, Mr. Khieu Kanharith, the Minister of Information and the government’s spokesperson, asked all media agencies to publish the names of the parents of culprits clearly so that it is easy for higher level authorities to take action. This wide permission was announced by the Ministry of Information after many newspapers had not dared to publish the names of culprits who are children of high ranking officials or bodyguards of high ranking officials, by just saying that they are the children of Ta Ta [grandfathers – this refers to high ranking officials]] or the bodyguards of powerful people.

According to the story, even Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly supported the move and warned parents that they would be held responsible for their out-of-control kids. Considering the context, however, such a statement sounds awfully hollow.

The Navy official in question is Admiral Ung Samkhan. His son, Ung Vanna, was arrested Wednesday for “car racing” and “making a threat” against CTN newsman Soy Sopheap. As the Sralanh Khmer story points out, Admiral Ung Samkhan is part of the CPP faction loyal to CPP President Chea Sim. Soy Sopheap, despite his steadfast protestations to the contrary, is a bought-and-paid-for mouthpiece for the CPP faction not loyal to CPP President Chea Sim. The cleft between the two is well-known. And the prime minister using current events to browbeat his detractors while making himself look good is simply politics as usual.