exactly as received**
To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), sieweng@seapa.org
Press Release-Cambodia
14 June 2007
Source: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
SEAPA protests firing of editor, closure of newspaper in Cambodia
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) strongly protests the firing of
"Cambodge Soir" news editor Soren Seelow and the closure of the daily
bilingual newspaper over coverage of a banned report that implicated top
government officials in the plunder of Cambodia's forests.
According to the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists
(CAPJ), Seelow was fired on 10 June for publishing an article that cited
the banned report by London-based environmental watchdog Global Witness on
illegal logging in Cambodia.
"In its announcement on 13 June, the newspaper's management had cited
financial difficulties as a reason for the closure. But the timing of the
announcement, just two days into a protest staged by the paper's entire
staff over the firing of Seelow, makes the decision to fold up suspicious,"
said SEAPA Executive Director Roby Alampay. "The people of Cambodia deserve
to know the real reason for the closure of a newspaper that over the past
12 years had been vital to the democratisation of their country."
At the French-Khmer daily's 10th anniversary celebrations, then Ambassador
of France, Yvon Roé d' Albert, commended the newspaper for its
contributions to the rebuilding of Cambodia. He said, on difficult road to
democracy, "Cambodge Soir" helped to establish in Cambodia "the freedom of
the press, without which freedom (itself) could not exist". The "Cambodge
Soir" began publication in 1995. It was sold in the Phnom Penh capital and
provincial towns, with a circulation of 3,000 that reached entrepreneurs,
government officials, parliamentarians, non-governmental organisations,
students, foreign embassies and foreigners living in Cambodia.
------------------
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance is a non-profit, non-governmental
organisation campaigning for press freedom in the region. Established in
Bangkok in November 1998, it aims to unite independent journalists and
press-related organisations in the region into a force for advocacy and
mutual protection.
**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole
responsibility of SEAPA**
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