Misogynistic attacks on VOD reporter unlikely to get a hearing
In this file photo taken on Dec. 14, 2022, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen arrives to attend the EU-ASEAN summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels. Cambodia’s strongman leader ordered the shutdown of one of the country’s few remaining local independent media outlets on Feb. 12 after taking issue with a news report about his son. (Photo: AFP)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has lashed out at a group of 40 non-government organizations (NGOs) who have urged legal action against an online celebrity for “misogynistic” online attacks on a reporter amid the shutting down of a Church-backed independent news outlet.
Hun Sen told a graduation ceremony at the Human Resource University that the group of 40 had ignored insults hurled against his wife and sister-in-law, Bun Sotha, who passed away on Feb. 3.
“I was saddened by the loss of my wife’s sister and at the same time, my wife and my family were insulted. Pheng Vannak slightly offended the former VOD [Voice of Democracy] female employee, but the 40 NGOs took serious action against him,” government mouthpiece Fresh News reported.
The government-friendly Khmer Times quoted him as saying: “My sister-in-law died, my wife was insulted. My family and I were insulted. You [the NGOs] did not come out to protect us. So in the future, do not practice double standards.”
“Why do you only protect women who support the opposition, and not women on the government’s side?” Hun Sen asked.
It was not immediately clear what insults Hun Sen was referring to. Former members of the outlawed Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) and the opposition Candlelight Party paid their respects to Bun Sotha on Feb. 7 which was covered by the government-friendly press.
However, former CNRP leader in exile Sam Rainsy reportedly made some comments about Bun Sotha’s former husband, Kov Samuth, who was gunned down in 1996, and this is subject to legal action in the French courts.
The group of 40 included a diverse group of trade unions, human rights activists, Transparency International, Action Aid and the Cambodian Youth Network who were angered by the online celebrity Pheng Vannak and a barrage of insults that were aimed at a female reporter from VOD.
Of the many offensive quotes attributed to Pheng Vannak, the group of 40 singled out: “As a pretty young girl, but with a wild character… With such a cheap character, whoever marries you, would be finished….”
They asked that government ministers “take firm legal action against Mr. Pheng Vannak to provide justice to the woman who is being abused and persecuted and to set a good example in society.”
The tirade was one of many launched by government sycophants after Hun Sen ordered the Feb. 6 closure of VOD amid a disputed quote in regards to who signed off on an aid package for Turkey.
In 2009, the former Minister of Women’s Affairs, Mu Sochua, who later joined the opposition ranks sued Hun Sen for the equivalent of 12 cents after the prime minister labeled her “strong legs,” a highly derogatory term for women in Cambodian society.
It was a symbolic protest and was struck down by the courts. Hun Sen responded with his own defamation suit, alleging that her lawsuit unfairly disparaged him. Mu Sochua went to jail as a result.
Cambodian courts have had a hectic few years prosecuting opposition supporters.
Its judicial system is ranked second last on the World Justice Project 2022 Rule of Law Index, at 139 out of 140 countries, one place behind Afghanistan and one place above Venezuela. Cambodian officials dispute the ranking.
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