Cambodian leader orders shutdown of independent media outlet Voice of Democracy
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Cambodia PM Hun Sen said that VOD would have its operating licence revoked, and must stop all broadcasting by 10am on Monday.
PHOTO: AFP
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PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered on Sunday the shutdown of one of the few remaining local independent media outlets in Cambodia after taking issue with a news report about his son.
One of the world’s longest-serving leaders, Mr Hun Sen is reported to have been cracking down on any opposition as he prepares for elections later in 2023.
Online outlet Voice of Democracy (VOD) publishes and broadcasts in Khmer and English, and is frequently critical of Mr Hun Sen and his government.
Mr Hun Sen said late on Sunday that VOD would have its operating licence revoked, and must stop all broadcasting by 10am on Monday.
The move followed a Feb 9 VOD report that Mr Hun Sen’s eldest son, Lieutenant-General Hun Manet, approved financial aid to Turkey, which is reeling from a devastating earthquake
Lt-Gen Hun Manet has denied the allegation.
Mr Hun Sen – who wants Lt-Gen Hun Manet to succeed him in the future – said he signed off on the US$100,000 (S$133,000) foreign ministry aid package.
“In the name of the government, which has to protect its dignity, I decide to end the case by ordering the information ministry to cancel the licence for VOD from now on and that it stop broadcasting by 10 am,” Mr Hun Sen wrote on his Facebook page.
“We are just shutting down all kinds of broadcasting from this radio (station), but we don’t touch their property,” he said.
He told foreign governments that funded the outlet to transfer the money to other countries or back into their own coffers.
He added that VOD journalists would “find new jobs at other places”.
In the Facebook post, Mr Hun Sen also attached a letter from VOD in which it said it was “regretful for confusions” regarding the article.
But Mr Hun Sen said he could “not accept the term ‘regretful’ and the request for forgiveness instead of an apology”.
On Saturday, Mr Hun Sen initially gave VOD 72 hours to apologise, with senior executives meeting with government officials on Sunday in an attempt to hash out an agreement.
The report in Khmer is still available online.
Ms Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, tweeted that the outlet “plays (a) significant role” in promoting “access to information” in Cambodia.
The news organisation started broadcasting in 2003 before branching out online, and has almost two million followers on its Khmer-language Facebook page.
VOD did not immediately reply to a request for comment. AFP
