UPDATE: Zsombor Peter, the former journalist for the Cambodia Daily has reached out to CEO to tell us that he was not in fact ARRESTED in Cambodia, but was only charged. We have looked into this for him, and while local reports clearly said he was 'arrested,' The Cambodia Daily and The Phnom Penh Post both say he was charged but don't mention he was actually arrested, so we have updated this article accordingly. It also originally appeared that the local news media reported that he had to sign something saying he would stop doing what he was charged over (allegedly asking election questions too close to an election and giving locals a hard time for supporting the ruling party, which has ultimately lead to him being charged with 'incitement to commit a felony'), but he also denies he had to sign anything saying he would stop, and we believe him.

We also identified him as Peter Zsombor instead of Zsombor Peter, and we have corrected that as well. We have made this correction here at the top, as he is afraid that nobody will read the correction if we put it on the bottom of the article or somewhere else less visible, and he wants us to make it perfectly clear that anyone reading this is certain that we are saying that he was only charged for his alleged crimes, not arrested, and he also never signed anything promising to 'knock it off.'



Ratanak Kiri, Cambodia: Zsombor Peter, a Canadian journalist for The Cambodia Daily English language Newspaper, was CHARGED NOT ARRESTED after authorities received complaints of him and another (local) journalist going around and asking people which political party they support and who did they vote for in 2012.

When people told them they support the CPP, Peter Zsombor allegedly kept asking them why don't they support the CNRP.

As the Cambodian government is very eager to make sure the county continues to have free and fair elections, they want to make sure Western journalists are not coming to corrupt the kind and pure hearts of the people, and wanted to force him to stop "meddling" in the country's election process.

He was criminally charged but was NOT forced to sign any agreements to stop his political interviews.

It first seemed that Peter Zsombor had to promise with his thumbprint that he would knock it off, but he says this didn't happen and we believe him.

Mr Zsombor Peter has been writing very critical articles about the Cambodian government since at least 2009 while working for the Cambodia Daily, and it would be a shame if he quit now.









Here are links to some of his recent articles:

NGO Publishes More Evidence of Illegal Logging Operation

Government Investigates Vietnamese Logging Operation

Customs Data Shows Banned Timber Exports Still Growing

Probe Finds Rampant Log Smuggling to Vietnam

Satellite Spies Fresh Clearing Of Wildlife Sanctuary Forest

Riot Police, Guards Block Labor Day Marchers

Anniversary for Slain Activist Defies Government’s Threat

(And all those were just from the past month, so you get the picture.)

Again, Canadian reporter/journalist Zsombor Peter reached out to CEO almost 8 months after this incident to dispute any suggestions that he was arrested and forced to sign anything saying he would stop doing his political interviews, so we have gone ahead and edited this to better reflect his own newspaper's coverage of the story rather than numerous local reports from within Cambodia at the time that stated he was arrested for his alleged crimes.

According to the Phnom Penh Post, Mr Peter was criminally charged with 'incitement to commit a felony' and now faces up to 2 years in Cambodian prison after Ratanakkiri Prosecutor Chea Pich laid charges against him.

The Phnom Penh Post also reported that Zsombor Peter did not show up to Ratanakkiri Provincial Court on June 27, 2017.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/f ... incitement

How dare he report about government sponsored illegal logging in Rattanakiri?! Does he not know that Virachey National Park/The Dragon's Tail are Kith Meng's personal property? What evidence does he provide?? Crazy satellite pictures? It's a well-known fact that NASA is out to make Cambodia look bad and they doctor those images. Drone pictures plus other nonsense? Interviews with local Krung people?! Pfff. The border is Vietnam is as tight as a nun's snatch out there. Our border guards would never let this happen, so how can he say it's happening? He's a bad man and looks down on Cambodian people and culture. A trouble maker.

It's more than possible that this "complaint" against the Cambodia Daily can be interpreted as a warning to the press and social media news outlets in general to be very careful about what they say in the coming days.

Reporters Targeted Over Election Questions
May 24, 2017
A commune chief has filed an official complaint against two Cambodia Daily reporters who interviewed villagers in Ratanakkiri province as part of the newspaper’s commune election coverage, accusing them of arriving “with bad intentions.”
“They came with bad intentions. They came to research, monitor the election and incited people,” the complaint filed on Monday says.

Douglas Steele, general manager and general counsel of The Cambodia Daily, yesterday said the reporters were just doing their jobs and described the complaint as “a bit absurd.”
“Reporters asking questions about politics during an election campaign—isn’t that part of the job?” he asked.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith further escalated the situation yesterday, posting a copy of one of the reporters’ passports on his Facebook page and warning journalists to be aware of the law.

“Please, all journalists, learn the laws on elections and strictly adhere to code of ethics during the elections to avoid any accusations,” Mr. Kanharith wrote...
Full article: https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/repo ... ns-130305/

...appears to be politically motivated...

Facebook rules say “You will not post anyone’s identification documents or sensitive financial information on Facebook”. Right ?
Or does it just depend on who is posting ?
(AFAIK FB has not taken any steps to remove this or made comment on this yet, and the passport photo and personal details of the journalist are still online. Time to step up FB. )

Independent groups representing journalists yesterday criticised as “intimidation” the posting of a reporter’s passport photograph by Information Minister Khieu Kanharith, following a complaint against the journalist and his colleague by a commune chief and villagers in Ratanakkiri province.

Kanharith on Tuesday uploaded a photograph of Cambodia Daily reporter Zsombor Peter’s passport along with a warning for journalists to follow election laws and media ethics while covering the two-week campaign period preceding the June 4 commune elections.

Speaking on Tuesday, Kanharith said he was just “reminding” reporters to follow the relevant laws on reporting the election. He said his sharing of the passport photo information did not breach any law.

It did, however, violate Facebook’s own Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which tells users “You will not post anyone’s identification documents or sensitive financial information on Facebook”.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/d ... on-slammed

Maybe nobody reported it so the MODs don't know about it?

I wonder where that's happened before

Court Complaint Filed Against Cambodia Daily Reporters
May 29, 2017
Two Cambodia Daily reporters stand accused of incitement and threatening voters in a complaint filed to the Ratanakkiri Provincial Court on Thursday, a court official said on Sunday, even after a prior complaint against the journalists was resolved by the commune election committee.

The complaint came as Information Minister Khieu Kanharith posted and then removed a photograph of the passport of one of the reporters, telling local media that if the reporter found the action threatening, he should leave the country.

Nathan Thompson, president of the OPCC, said the complaint could have a chilling effect on local journalists.

“Zsombor and Pheap have impeccable reputations and we hope their names will be cleared promptly,” he wrote in a Facebook message.

“Cambodia has a history of journalists silenced via legal and illegal means and we are concerned that this action will undermine reporters and civil society.”
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cour ... rs-130575/

Cambodia Daily Zsombor Peter is off the hook! The 3-day statute of limitations has run out.

"A complaint against two Cambodia Daily journalists accused of incitement and violating voter rights by asking questions about Sunday’s commune elections has been rejected by a prosecutor at the Ratanakkiri Provincial Court due to a lack of evidence.

The provincial elections committee, which then reviewed the case, has also decided it will not pursue the matter, saying that it fell outside its jurisdiction.

On Thursday, a complaint was filed to the court against Zsombor Peter, a Canadian associate editor, and Aun Pheap, a Cambodian reporter, over interviews they had conducted as part of the newspaper’s coverage of upcoming elections in O’yadaw district’s Pate commune."

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/comp ... ed-130786/

Case continues, "compensation" demanded by the plaintiffs ...

Case against Cambodia Daily journalists progresses
Thu, 15 June 2017
After questioning three residents of Ratanakkiri’s Pate commune yesterday, the provincial court announced that two Cambodia Daily reporters would be summonsed in two weeks to respond to questions regarding a complaint filed against them for seemingly routine reporting.

Provincial Prosecutor Chea Pich said that plaintiffs Rocham Yi, 28, Sev Born, 35, and former CNRP Commune Chief Rmam Yout, 41, were questioned yesterday, after their summonsing on June 4. “I just want to tell you that they already appeared to be questioned,” he said.

Despite the routine nature of the interviews – which came in the lead-up to the June 4 commune poll – the trio lodged a complaint against the journalists on May 22 for asking questions that they said were “incitement with bad intention”.

Born yesterday said he had asked for $3,000 to drop the matter, despite the fact that neither the Commune Election Law nor the article for incitement appear to allow for compensation. “I was asked whether I want to continue the case, or stop it here, or what I want. I said I need 12 million riel in compensation for me alone,” he said, and added that if the journalists failed to compensate him, he would ask the court to imprison them. “It’s incitement when reporting about politics during the [election] campaign."...

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/c ... progresses