Two former reporters face espionage charges

Cambodia news in English! Here you'll find all the breaking news from Cambodia translated into English for our international readership and expat community to read and comment on. The majority of our news stories are gathered from the local Khmer newspapers, but we also bring you newsworthy media from Cambodia before you read them anywhere else. Because of the huge population of the capital city, most articles are from Phnom Penh, but Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, and Kampot often make the headlines as well. We report on all arrests and deaths of foreigners in Cambodia, and the details often come from the Cambodian police or local Khmer journalists. As an ASEAN news outlet, we also publish regional news and events from our neighboring countries. We also share local Khmer news stories that you won't find in English anywhere else. If you're looking for a certain article, you may use our site's search feature to find it quickly.
User avatar
newkidontheblock
Expatriate
Posts: 4422
Joined: Tue May 20, 2014 3:51 am
Reputation: 1545

Re: Two former reporters face espionage charges

Post by newkidontheblock »

The poor reporters didn’t report to the KOW’s new masters first. Their first, last, and final mistake.
User avatar
CEOCambodiaNews
Expatriate
Posts: 62322
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 5:13 am
Reputation: 4033
Location: CEO Newsroom in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Contact:
Cambodia

Re: Two former reporters face espionage charges

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Two former journalists for RFA are on trial for espionage.

Espionage trial to begin for former Radio Free Asia reporters in Cambodia
July 24, 2019 1:00 PM ET
Bangkok, July 24, 2019 - On July 26, Uon Chhin, a videographer, and Yeang Sothearin, previously a news editor at the U.S. Congress-funded station, [RFA], are due to appear in Phnom Penh Municipal Court to face criminal anti-state charges, according to Radio Free Asia spokesperson Rohit Mahajan, who communicated with CPJ by email.

In September 2017, Radio Free Asia closed its Phnom Penh bureau and suspended its news operations under official pressure related to its registration status, as CPJ reported at the time.

The pair were arrested on November 14, 2017, and were accused of installing broadcasting equipment in a Phnom Penh guesthouse to secretly transmit news reports back to Radio Free Asia's headquarters in Washington, The Cambodia Daily reported at the time. The same report said police seized a voice recorder, microphone, laptop, and video monitor from the guesthouse.

The broadcaster has maintained that it no longer had ties with the journalists at the time of their arrest and denied they were working on its behalf, according to local news reports. If found guilty on charges of providing "a foreign state with information which undermines national defense," the journalists could face up to 15 years in prison, according to those reports.
https://cpj.org/2019/07/espionage-trial ... -asia-.php
Join the Cambodia Expats Online Telegram Channel: https://t.me/CambodiaExpatsOnline

Cambodia Expats Online: Bringing you breaking news from Cambodia before you read it anywhere else!

Have a story or an anonymous news tip for CEO? Need advertising? CONTACT US

Cambodia Expats Online is the most popular community in the country. JOIN TODAY

Follow CEO on social media:

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
User avatar
CEOCambodiaNews
Expatriate
Posts: 62322
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 5:13 am
Reputation: 4033
Location: CEO Newsroom in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Contact:
Cambodia

Re: Two former reporters face espionage charges

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Verdict delayed in espionage case against two Cambodian journalists
Sopheng Cheang
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
The Associated Press
Published 1 day ago

A verdict has been delayed in the espionage case against two Cambodian journalists who worked for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia.

Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin are accused of undermining national security by supplying information to a foreign state, an act punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The two men and others were sitting inside the courtroom awaiting the verdict Friday morning when a court officer entered and announced the delay. The officer read a statement saying the judge who was set to announce the verdict was busy due to a meeting in the justice ministry. The officer said the new date for the verdict would be announced later.

Sothearin said he was keen to know the verdict so he could prepare for his future. “The more postponement of the verdict, the more of my freedom I’ve lost,” he told reporters outside court after the delay was announced.

Rights groups consider the espionage case against the two journalists as a clear attack on freedom of the press.
https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/world/ ... urnalists/
Join the Cambodia Expats Online Telegram Channel: https://t.me/CambodiaExpatsOnline

Cambodia Expats Online: Bringing you breaking news from Cambodia before you read it anywhere else!

Have a story or an anonymous news tip for CEO? Need advertising? CONTACT US

Cambodia Expats Online is the most popular community in the country. JOIN TODAY

Follow CEO on social media:

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
User avatar
CEOCambodiaNews
Expatriate
Posts: 62322
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 5:13 am
Reputation: 4033
Location: CEO Newsroom in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Contact:
Cambodia

Re: Two former reporters face espionage charges

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

19 January 2020
(Bangkok) – Cambodian authorities should drop the baseless espionage charges against two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 20, 2020, Cambodia’s Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh will hear the arguments from Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin challenging the trial court’s ruling that their espionage charges should be reinvestigated.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/19/cam ... ournalists
Join the Cambodia Expats Online Telegram Channel: https://t.me/CambodiaExpatsOnline

Cambodia Expats Online: Bringing you breaking news from Cambodia before you read it anywhere else!

Have a story or an anonymous news tip for CEO? Need advertising? CONTACT US

Cambodia Expats Online is the most popular community in the country. JOIN TODAY

Follow CEO on social media:

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
User avatar
Jerry Atrick
Expatriate
Posts: 5408
Joined: Sat May 17, 2014 4:19 pm
Reputation: 3037
Central African Republic

Re: Two former reporters face espionage charges

Post by Jerry Atrick »

Radio Free Asia.

Parent organisation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Ag ... obal_Media

Parent organisation's predecessor:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_ ... ion_Agency

Dwight Eisenhower on the purpose of such organisations:

From the beginning, Dwight Eisenhower said, "audiences would be more receptive to the American message if they were kept from identifying it as propaganda. Avowedly propagandistic materials from the United States might convince few, but the same viewpoints presented by the seemingly independent voices would be more persuasive".[6] According to the Kennedy memorandum, the USIA utilized various forms of media, including "personal contact, radio broadcasting, libraries, book publication and distribution, press motion pictures, television, exhibits, English-language instruction, and others". Through these different forms, the United States government was able to distribute and disguise the propaganda more easily and engage a greater concentration of people.[5]"
User avatar
SternAAlbifrons
Expatriate
Posts: 5752
Joined: Sat Mar 23, 2019 11:31 am
Reputation: 3424
Location: Gilligan's Island
Pitcairn Island

Re: Two former reporters face espionage charges

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

That is all true enough ^^
but they did produce heaps of really important stuff too, that others were unable to publish.
The problem is that the coverage is too one-sided. With both the issues they covered, and in their treatment of the individual reports.
So you can find out what is happening, but you can't trust the analysis that goes with it.

After being a lifelong news/current affairs addict - it has lost its appeal to me now. largely.
The papers that i used to read daily, (and TV) i read not because they were "progressive", but because they used to be relatively unbiased. I got a fairly good look at the whole picture, and the different sides of the stories.

Now they are just a backup cheer squad for their target audience's own views. Boring. (boring as hell)
Same with VOA -except it's the sponsors agenda with them, but it is still only one-sided "propaganda".
User avatar
CEOCambodiaNews
Expatriate
Posts: 62322
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 5:13 am
Reputation: 4033
Location: CEO Newsroom in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Contact:
Cambodia

Re: Two former reporters face espionage charges

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Cambodia upholds espionage investigations into ex-Radio Free Asia reporters
January 28, 2020 8:42 AM ET
Bangkok, January 28, 2020--A Cambodian appeals court today rejected a request made by two former Radio Free Asia reporters for state prosecutors to drop a reinvestigation of espionage charges pending against them, according to a report by their former employer.

Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin, respectively a former editor and videographer with the U.S. Congress-funded news outlet, made their appeals after a Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge last October ordered a reinvestigation of the charges on the basis he did not have enough evidence to rule on the case, CPJ documented at the time.

The pair were first arrested and charged with espionage in November 2017 on allegations they had installed broadcasting equipment in a Phnom Penh guesthouse to secretly send reports to Radio Free Asia’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., after it had closed down its Cambodia bureau, CPJ documented at the time.

The two reporters have also been charged with illegally producing pornography.
https://cpj.org/2020/01/cambodia-uphold ... to-ex-.php
Join the Cambodia Expats Online Telegram Channel: https://t.me/CambodiaExpatsOnline

Cambodia Expats Online: Bringing you breaking news from Cambodia before you read it anywhere else!

Have a story or an anonymous news tip for CEO? Need advertising? CONTACT US

Cambodia Expats Online is the most popular community in the country. JOIN TODAY

Follow CEO on social media:

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
User avatar
newkidontheblock
Expatriate
Posts: 4422
Joined: Tue May 20, 2014 3:51 am
Reputation: 1545

Re: Two former reporters face espionage charges

Post by newkidontheblock »

I sense power struggle. Charging reporters with both espionage and pornography then keeping them locked up for 9 months and then not ruling is throwing stuff at them and seeing what sticks.

Reopening the charges by the judge is waffling. Of course the judge is ruling what the political winds tell him to rule. He just needs to figure out what the winds say.

If this was in the US, there would be a nail biting tell all book down the line. This being the Kingdom of Wonder, everyone will just have to be left in wonder.
User avatar
Arget
Expatriate
Posts: 3259
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2017 7:44 am
Reputation: 2416
Location: Phnom Penh
Contact:
Australia

Re: Two former reporters face espionage charges

Post by Arget »

Here they don't have tell all books just a small obituary.
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], ali baba, crackheadyo, Gazzy, Google [Bot], mango, orussey98, Semrush [Bot], Stravaiger and 747 guests