Moneaksekar Khmer journalist murdered
July 13, 2008
Khem Sambo, 47, reported on corruption and other social ills under the rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen for the opposition newspaper Moneaseka Khmer.
He was riding a motorcycle with his 21-year-old son on Friday when they were each shot twice by a man who was also riding a motorcycle, Phnom Penh police Chief Yim Simony said. They died later in a hospital.
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Moneaseka Khmer editor Dam Sith called the attack “the gravest threat” to his newspaper, which is affiliated with Cambodia’s main opposition Sam Rainsy Party.
Oum Sarin, president of the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists, said the killing is “creating a climate of fear” among journalists.
The case is the first killing of a Cambodian journalist in five years, according to Pen Samithy, president of Club of Cambodian Journalists.
Like so many other high-profile murders, almost nobody expects the people responsible for Khem Sambo’s death to face trial, much less penance. Everybody knows the police and the courts are useless.
While many will fume in private about such injustice, the voice of public outrage is too often muted on these matters, which makes it far too easy for authorities to ignore calls for accountability. Newspapers, politicians and the public must do more, starting with relentlessly demanding the resignation of impotent police chiefs and other officials incapable of doing their jobs.
If Yim Simony can’t find Khem Sambo’s killers, he should resign in shame. If he won’t resign, then the authorities above Yim Simony must force him out, lest the newspapers, politicians and public start calling for their resignations.
If Cambodia ever wants a responsible government, its citizens will need to start demanding that their officials are held accountable. The ruling elite is never going to police themselves.
July 14, 2008 at 11:35 am
[...] DAS has done the best job of commenting on the latest round of press killings in Cambodia. I’m [...]
July 17, 2008 at 6:03 am
All Khmers who loves democracy probably focus on one very powerful man in Cambodia if not the high ranking government officials that mastermind the killings of Khim Sambo and his son. Just like the high profile killings from the past the government never arrest and convict the perpetrators if they do it will be a fake one like Bon Somnang and Sok Som Earn who they said killed Cambodian union leader Mr. Chea Vichea in 2004. WHAT A JOKE. My prediction is that soon the Cambodian government will stage the arrest and later convict the FAKE alleged triggerman who they might say killed Mr. Khim Sambo and his son, and the case is closed. Remember, there is no justice in Cambodia as long as corruption continues. To convict someone the court has to recieve the green light from the Hun Sen’s government, if they fail to do so the court officials has to be resigned or removed from the post to the rural countryside where they earn very little money, THAT’S THE RULE. Mr. Khim sambo worked for Moneakseka Khmer newspaper that manage by Mr. Dam Sith. Recently, Mr. Dam sith was charged for printing allegations that Cambodia’s foreign minister had ties to the genocidal Khmer Rough regime and jailed for almost a week. The news of Mr. Dam Sith arrest made front page headline throughout Cambodia leading to widespread demand of his release from the local communities. Unbelievably, Hun Sen stepped in and pleaded for his release. Soon after that Mr. Dam Sith was freed from jail, and the charge was later dropped. On Sat. July 12 2008 Mr. Khim Sambo and his son was gunned down by a lone gunman.