Cambodia’s Crackdown On Free Speech And The Media

By Jinghong Chen, Jerome McDonnell
The final issue of The Cambodia Daily is sold at a newsstand, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017.
The final issue of The Cambodia Daily is sold at a newsstand, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. Heng Sinith / Associated Press
The final issue of The Cambodia Daily is sold at a newsstand, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017.
The final issue of The Cambodia Daily is sold at a newsstand, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. Heng Sinith / Associated Press

Cambodia’s Crackdown On Free Speech And The Media

By Jinghong Chen, Jerome McDonnell
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A huge tax bill from the Cambodian government pressured a well-respected independent English newspaper, The Cambodia Daily, to close down last week.

The Daily was not the only threatened media outlet. In recent weeks, the government has ordered at least 15 radio stations to close or barred them from broadcasting programs, like the U.S.-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. Several NGOs, including the democracy-promoting organization, the National Democratic Institute, were shut down. Last week, opposition leader, Kem Sokha, was charged with treason for allegedly conspiring with the U.S. to overturn the government. 

Are those moves related to the upcoming national election in 2018? What is the future of free speech in Cambodia? We’ll ask Jodie DeJonge, former editor-in-chief of The Cambodia Daily.