Minister Drops Suit Against Opposition Editor
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he was dropping his defamation suit to calm the election environment. (27 June 2006)
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong announced Friday he will drop his defamation suit against an opposition newspaper editor who wasjailed for a week earlier this month. Hor Namhong said he was dropping his suit against Dam Sithbecause he did not want to interfere with the political atmosphere ahead ofgeneral elections. The defamation suit, filed in April, stemmed from a storypublished in Dam Sith's newspaper, Moneaksekar Khmer, which quoted oppositionleader Sam Rainsy accusing the foreign minister of involvement in the KhmerRouge. Dam Sith spent a week in jail following Phnom Penh Municipal Courtinvestigations, worrying observers that press freedom was eroding ahead of July'snational election. "I am very happy to drop the complaint against DamSith, in the spirit of compatriotism," Hor Namhong told reporters Friday,following an hour-long meeting with Dam Sith at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."I told Dam Sith that although we occupy different political tendencies,we are all Khmer, and this compromise will lead to a good atmosphere for theelection." Hor Namhong said he would officially request the court to dropthe case. "Hor Namhong doesn't want to be reminded of thepast," Dam Sith said following the announcement Friday. "He decidedto drop his complaint against me." "I did not apologize to Hor Namhong," he said of the meeting,"but I only asked that he compromise and he get his complaint out ofcourt, so that I have the right to walk around without restriction." Um Sarin, president of the Cambodian Association for theProtection of Journalists, called the minister's decision a "positivestep" and "good example for other high-ranking officials."