16 June 2009
PHNOM PENH (AFP) — An international rights group has criticised Cambodia's ruling party for allegedly stifling free speech through the use of legal action against government critics.
New York-based Human Rights Watch called on Premier Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party to stop "its threats, harassment and spurious legal action against members of parliament and lawyers defending free expression".
Cambodian authorities have lodged at least eight criminal defamation and disinformation complaints against government critics since April.
"These lawsuits are a clear attempt to intimidate the opposition and prevent members of parliament from exercising free expression," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
"Even by Cambodian standards, the state of freedom of expression and democratic rights is growing more fragile by the day," he added.
The National Assembly is expected to decide next week whether to strip parliamentary immunity from Mu Sochua, a lawmaker from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, so that a criminal defamation case against her can proceed.
The charges stem from a now dismissed lawsuit she filed against Hun Sen for allegedly making derogatory comments about her.
The UN's human rights office in Cambodia also issued a briefing Monday warning the spate of lawsuits against critics could nurture "fear, frustration and anger, with the risk of leading to further conflict and violence".
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