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Alert

Third human rights defender charged with defamation and jailed

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Cambodia Center for Human Rights (CCHR) Deputy Director Pa Nguon Teang was charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court with defaming the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen and sent to Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh on 5 January 2006, according to local press reports.

In his imprisonment, he joins CCHR Director Kem Sokha and Community Legal Education Center Director Yeng Virak, who were charged earlier on the same account and detained in the same facility. All three have been charged over a banner containing remarks critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the government.

The controversial banner of hand-written messages was displayed on 10 December as part of an International Human Rights Day event.

Pa Nguon Teang was arrested on 4 January at the Cambodian-Laotian border in Stung Treng province. Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith stated earlier that the CCHR deputy director had been detained for interrogation regarding his role in the Human Rights Day celebration but had not been charged.

The charge against Pa Nguon Teang came amidst growing pressure from donors of international aid to Cambodia and from the international human rights and free expression communities, who are seeking to dissuade the Cambodian government from using a defamation law to silence government critics, including members of the media, and who are calling on the government to immediately free all critics unjustly detained on defamation charges.