H.E. Meas Sophorn, Under Secretary of State and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Information, has rejected the Quarterly Cambodian Journalism Situation Report by CamboJa, a journalists’ association, stressing that it is an exaggerated report which does not reflect the real situation of press freedom in the Kingdom.

“This report of CamboJa is dishonest and intentionally accuses the competent institutions that are implementing their roles and duties in accordance with the law of the Kingdom of Cambodia,” the spokesperson told AKP yesterday.

H.E. Meas Sophorn continued that the report did not thoroughly study the regulations issued by the Ministry of Information, adding that CamboJa always opposed any decision of the public institutions and has never accepted the explanation from them.

This association always issues reports or statements accusing the competent institutions of violating the rights of journalists or intimidating or suppressing their rights, he emphasised.

This report wrongfully considers the cases of journalists who are legally responsible for their actions as a violation of the freedom of expression, H.E. Meas Sophorn explained, saying the association's record did not fully reflect the real aspects and it intended to mislead the public about the competent institutions' law enforcement.

Moreover, he underlined, when the Ministry of Information and relevant ministries invite journalists, who claimed to be victims of threats or right violations, to provide more details, they often refrain from official reporting, which raises the questions: “If their rights are being violated, why do they not cooperate to provide information to the competent institutions?” “Are they victims of a real violation of their rights, or is it just a performance on their own?”

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press