VZCZCXRO9537
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0576/01 2231155
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 111155Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1047
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000576 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, P, D 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PHUM CB
SUBJECT: PUBLISHER HONG CHAKRA'S APPEAL FAILS; JAILED UNTIL 
JUNE 2010 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 489 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISSEMINATION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  After an hour-long hearing, the Appeals 
Court reaffirmed the June 26 conviction for disinformation of 
Khmer Machas Srok publisher Hong Chakra, and ordered him to 
continue serving a 12-month jail sentence.  While presiding 
judge Seng Sivutha asked fair questions, the accused's 
attempt to express "regret" for a mistake was seized as an 
admission of guilt by at least one of the three sitting 
judges.  The defendant's lawyer could only read from a 
prepared statement that was part political rhetoric, part 
polemic, part denial of any wrongdoing - thus undercutting 
his client's attempt to show remorse for a mistake. 
Government lawyer Soun Chanthan made clear by his forceful 
presentation for application of the criminal law against the 
accused that some government leaders want Hong Chakra to stay 
in jail for two articles that the government claimed 
dishonored officials and caused social disorder. END SUMMARY. 
 
Hong Chakra Pleads: A Mistake or Guilty? 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Hong Chakra first spoke on his own behalf, stating 
that he regretted having authored the stories on Deputy Prime 
Minister Sok An's political situation.  One story published 
in the April 5-7 edition of Khmer Machas Srok stated that Sok 
An wanted to be Prime Minister, replacing Hun Sen.  Another 
story published on May 2 said that Hun Sen was breaking up 
Sok An's nest of allies.  Noting that his stories relied on 
other sources, Hong Chakra said that he was mistaken in 
printing stories that in retrospect might not have been 
backed up by evidence, but he denied knowing beforehand that 
the accounts were false.  When attempting to say that he had 
"made a mistake" at least one judge pounced on the phrase, 
which in Khmer legal terminology also means "am guilty." 
Hong Chakra was not able to explain his way out of this 
dilemma. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Defense lawyer Choung Chou Ngy gave the three-judge 
panel a five-page, single-spaced brief and then proceeded to 
read from it verbatim.  (COMMENT: The text appeared to have 
been carefully prepared by Sam Rainsy Party supporters, who 
are paying this lawyer who represents Rainsy in his 
defamation suit with Hor Namhong, and who help support Hong 
Chakra's family.  END COMMENT.)  While the brief argued 
against use of the UNTAC criminal law and for the use of the 
civil-based Press Law, it also included long sections 
repeating the statements raised in the original article and 
unremittingly arguing that these statements were not false. 
The presiding judge interrupted this line of argumentation to 
say that the court would hear points of law, but not about 
politics. 
 
Government Lawyer Unrelenting 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Government lawyer Soun Chanthan was equally adamant 
in insisting on the application of the UNTAC law on 
disinformation, saying that it was clear the Khmer Machas 
Srok articles were false (but presenting no evidence). 
Several times during his presentation, he thumped his pointed 
finger on the wooden table to express his dismay with the 
crime and the social disorder it had caused (although no 
evidence was presented). When asked if the non-criminal press 
law should apply, Soun Chanthan insisted that the criminal 
code should be used and the lower court's sentence upheld. 
Prosecutor Tep Khemara argued that the case made in the lower 
court was proper and the sentence appropriate. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Following the statements by defense and the 
government, the judgment could not have been more succinct, 
read aloud to a packed court at the end of a long morning of 
appeals cases:  the appeal was properly made, the municipal 
court ruled properly in applying article 62 of the UNTAC law 
on disinformation, the accused will remain in jail, and the 
accused has the right to appeal to the Supreme Court. 
Observers included the UN Office of the High Commissioner for 
Human Rights, LICADHO, Cambodian Center for Human Rights, and 
other court monitors, as well as SRP politicians Yim Sovann, 
Eng Chay Eang, Son Chhay and a host of others. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In a conversation before the verdict, Khmer Machas 
Srok editor Chum Sophal -- reportedly a close advisor to Hong 
Chakra -- revealed the intent of Hong Chakra to continue with 
his 12-month sentence.  He noted that an appeal would be 
lodged with the Supreme Court. 
 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000576  002 OF 002 
 
 
COMMENT: Politics as Usual 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Hong Chakra looked relatively fit and healthy, 
after having just recovered from a cough according to his 
daughter.  The courtroom battle echoed the personal political 
antagonisms between DPM Sok An and opposition party leaders. 
Neither side cares to respect ground rules for political 
comity and the opposition lawyer -- if not Hong Chakra 
himself -- signaled a willingness of the opposition to use 
the tools available to it to antagonize and vilify the 
government.  Similarly, the government lawyer showed no 
desire to entertain a more lenient approach to Hong Chakra's 
imprisonment in Prey Sor prison, where he is locked in a 
small cell with 49 other inmates.  As a result, the judges 
had nothing to add to the Municipal Court decision, which 
appears to reflect the government's sentiment: Hong Chakra 
will stay in jail for 12 months and must pay a fine of 9 
million riel (USD $2250). 
RODLEY