Reporters Without Borders and the Cambodian Center for Independent Media demand the immediate and unconditional release of Mam Sonando, owner of Beehive radio, whose brief trial growing out of charges of fomenting insurrection ended on 6 March. The verdict in the case, an appeal of a lower court conviction, will be announced on 14 March.
[..] The trial was marked by the court’s reading of an Amicus brief on Sonando’s behalf by local and international press freedom organizations. The brief argued for Sonando’s exoneration and release on the basis of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees freedom of opinion and expression. “It is the first time a Cambodian Court takes an independent analysis into account during a trial,” said Pa Ngoun Teang, director of the Cambodia Center for Independent Media. “While it can be a good sign for the case, there are still charges against Mam Sonando but no proof of them. The Court should exonerate him and release him.”
For more information please contact Ms. Chan Somaly at Somaly.ng@vodhotnews.com
Click HERE to see PDF file.
