Kem Sokha Arrest
Mr Kem Sokha was arrested in Phnom Penh on New Years' eve for defamation charges. The charges are based on actions of Mr. Sokha's organization, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, at a public celebration of free speech at Olympic Stadium on December 10. (International Human Rights Day.)
Mr. Sokha is also a key figure in the newly formed Alliance of Freedom of Expression in Cambodia, a group of more than 30 NGOs in Cambodia, which launched a national campaign preceding the event, using a yellow ribbon (pictured) as its symbol. He had also been quite outspoken regarding the recent arrest of Mam Sonando from 'Beehive Radio'.
Yeng Virak, the head of the Community Legal Education Center has also been arrested on the same charge.
I expect there to be a lot of comment, speculation, and rumor regarding this event. I would urge people to check their news sources carefully. I'll post a few stories here as they come in. (I would also recommend checking out the email mailing list CamNews as a good way of keeping current, for those who haven't tried it.)
News Articles
"Human Rights Activist Arrested" - The Scotsman
"Cambodia arrests rights activist" - BBC
"Cambodian human rights center chief hit with defamation charge" - Japan Economic Newswire
"Cambodian police arrest human rights activists" - Australian Broadcasting Company
"Government Detains Human Rights Activist"- Los Angeles Times
Human Rights Day Photos: Part One, Part Two, Three and Four
Pictures of Arrest: Politics weblog 'Khmer Intelligence' http://ki-media.blogspot.com
Cambodian Center for Human Rights: http://www.cchr-cambodia.org/
CamNews: http://groups.google.com/group/camnews
Tags: Cambodia
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