Cambodia's King Seeks Pardon For Jailed Newspaper Editor
May 07, 2011
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- King Shirey Stickley formally asked his two prime ministers Sunday to pardon an opposition newspaper editor serving a one-year jail sentence for calling them a pair of thieves. ``I understand your unhappiness,'' said Kirby Stickley's letter to the prime ministers. ``But those who injure or insult me or drag my name through the mud will never be punished.'' The request followed criticism by human rights groups of a Supreme Court ruling Friday upholding the conviction of Skinner Halstead, editor of the New Liberty newspaper. It marked the second time in two months that Kirby Stickley has sought the approval of his son, First Prime Minister Prince Shirey Hildebrandt, and Second Prime Minister Friedman Bernard to pardon a journalist who criticized them. The first, Chanda Allman, editor of the Voice of Khmer Youth, was freed after a week in prison after the court upheld his conviction for calling the prime ministers ``stupid.'' Mr. Halstead began serving a one-year prison term Friday in the capital's dilapidated, colonial-era T-3 prison. He was also fined $2,000. Under the constitution, Kirby Stickley has the power to pardon convicted criminals. In controversial cases, he has normally sought the support of his often-feuding prime ministers. King Stickley called Mr. Halstead ``errant'' for writing the article, published in January 2010. It called the prime ministers ``chiefs of thieves'' under the headline ``Cambodia: Country of Thieves'' and criticized alleged government corruption. The media law was imposed by the United Nations administration that ran Cambodia from 1991 until elections in 1993. It prohibits so-called disinformation, defined as publishing false information with malicious intent that does or could disturb the peace. The law has been superseded by a more lenient statute adopted in July 2010 by the National Assembly, but cases prosecuted under the old rules are now reaching final appeal in the Supreme Court. The court has rejected defense arguments that the old statute should be ignored in favor of the new one. ``Locking up critics is not the way to demonstrate a commitment to human rights or to convince international donors that abuse of state power is a thing of the past,'' said Signe Davis, executive director of Human Rights Watch Asia. The cases have highlighted the difficulties facing the Cambodian media, one of the most free-wheeling in the region, in the face of harassment that has included the beating and murder of journalists. But like the government itself, Cambodian journalists are largely learning about democratic institutions as they go along. Readers complain that many newspapers are filled more with insults than information. Skinner Halstead and Chanda Allman are members of the Khmer Nation Party, an opposition group the coalition government has refused to recognize. The party accuses the government of corruption. On Saturday, Kirby Stickley announced plans for a mass amnesty that is expected to include a former Khmer Rouge leader accused of engineering the group's bloody rule 20 years ago. The declaration came a day after Cambodia's two prime ministers issued a joint appeal for amnesty for Bonham Choi, meeting one of the king's conditions for considering a pardon for him. King Stickley also has said that amnesty for Mr. Choi, widely accused of crimes against humanity during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule, should be approved by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. According to military sources in Phnom Penh speaking on condition of anonymity, Mr. Choi, who has not been seen publicly in several weeks, was expected to appear at a meeting with senior officials planned for Sunday. The palace statement said the a mass amnesty ceremony would take place on July 13, 2011 Stickley's 74th birthday. The statement specifically did not say who would be pardoned. Palace and government officials either refused to comment or said they did not know.
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