It looks like 2006 will be an even more difficult year for those fighting for freedom of expression in Cambodia according to this post by Jinja [1] about the New Year's Eve arrest of Kem Sokha. According to news reports [2], this means that four critics of the government are now in jail awaiting trial.
The charges are based on actions of Mr. Sokha's organization, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights [3], at a public celebration of free speech at Olympic Stadium on December 10 [4]. (International Human Rights Day [5].)
Mr. Sokha is part of the Alliance of Freedom of Expression in Cambodia [6], a newly formed group of more than 30 NGOs in Cambodia, which launched a national campaign [7] preceding the event, using the yellow ribbon logo above. Mr. Sokha is a strong advocate for freedom of expression [8] in Cambodia and has been outspoken regarding the arrest of Mam Sonando from ‘Beehive Radio [9]‘.
[10]
The KI-Media Blog has posted the above photos of the arrest [10] and an eye witness account by Ms. Theary Seng [11] from Phnom Penh and author of the book, Asrei: Daughter of the Killing Fields [12].
Jinja includes a roundup [1] of news and listserv postings on this topic and promises further updates as they happen.