One of Cambodia's most prominent independent newspapers, The Cambodia Daily , announced it was shutting down Sunday, as Prime Minister Hun Sen escalates a crackdown on critics ahead of national elections next year.

In its final edition Monday, the Daily led with the headline "Descent Into Outright Dictatorship," along with a story on the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was detained Sunday for "treason."

"It's a dark day for press freedom in Cambodia," editor-in-chief Jodie DeJonge, told Agence France-Presse.

The English-language paper was slapped with a multi-million dollar tax bill last month, which was supposed to be paid by Sept. 4. The Daily said the $6.3 million figure was "arbitrary" and not based on audits. " The Daily has been targeted with an astronomical tax assessment, leaks and false statements," the paper said in a statement.

More than a dozen radio stations carrying opposition content, along with U.S.-funded broadcasters Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, have also been forced to close, the Daily reported . U.S. non-profit the National Democratic Institute and at least one other U.S. charity were expelled from the country.

In the run up to crucial general elections next year, strongman Hun Sen has sought to stifle opposition voices. Kem Sokha, the head of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) — which made surprise gains in the 2013 elections — was arrested early Sunday on allegations that he schemed with Washington, a perennial target of Hun Sen's rants. In a statement, the Cambodian government alleged "a secret plan of conspiracy between Kem Sokha, his group, and foreigners that harms Cambodia," according to AFP.

Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who has ruled the country for three decades, often uses the courts to silence critics. In October, the government formally exiled Sam Rainsy — who led the CNRP before Sokha — o rdering immigration officials to “take legal action to prevent this person from entering Cambodia” after he fled to France to avoid criminal defamation charges.</s>Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen vowed on Monday to resist foreign interference, following international criticism of the arrest of his main rival for treason and a widening crackdown on his critics. The United States and the European Union condemned the detention of opposition leader Kem Sokha, who is accused of plotting with US support, and steps against the media that forced the independent Cambodia Daily to shut on Monday.

“We can’t allow any group to destroy the peace we hold in our hands by being the puppets of foreigners,” Hun Sen said at the opening of a new mosque in Kompong Cham province.

“We cannot allow foreigners to use Khmers to kill Khmers any more,” he said, referring to the Khmer Rouge genocide that destroyed Cambodia in the 1970s. Hun Sen, 65, is a former Khmer Rouge soldier who switched sides before it was driven out.

Opposition politicians, rights groups and independent media have come under growing pressure in the run-up to an election next year in which Hun Sen could face the greatest electoral challenge of more than three decades in power.

One of China’s closest allies in the region, Hun Sen has increasingly ignored criticism from Western donors whose budget support is no longer as critical as during the early years of his rule when Cambodia was little more than a failed state.

Sokha was arrested in a raid on his home early on Sunday. He had still not been allowed to see his lawyer by Monday, his daughter, Monovithya Kem, said on Twitter.

“We don’t know his condition, whether he’s safe,” she said.

The European Union called for his immediate release, based on the fact that he is meant to have parliamentary immunity, as an elected lawmaker.

“Along with recent actions by the authorities against NGOs and some media organisations, this arrest suggests a further effort to restrict the democratic space in Cambodia,” the EU said in a statement.

The US State Department expressed “grave concern” at Sokha’s arrest on charges it said appeared to be politically motivated. It said in a statement it was also worried about other curbs on media and civil society.

Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the steps “raise serious questions about the government’s ability to organize credible national elections in 2018 which produce an outcome that enjoys democratic legitimacy”.

Hun Sen has steadily increased his rhetoric against the United States, ending joint military exercises, expelling a U.S. pro-democracy group and on Sunday accusing Washington of conspiring with Kem Sokha.

The Cambodia Daily newspaper, which published its last edition on Monday, said it had been forced to close after being given one month to pay a crippling $6.3 million in back taxes. Its final headline, on the arrest of Kem Sokha, was “Descent Into Outright Dictatorship”.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>One of Cambodia's most prominent independent newspapers, The Cambodia Daily , announced it was shutting down Sunday, as Prime Minister Hun Sen escalates a crackdown on critics ahead of national elections next year.

In its final edition Monday, the Daily led with the headline "Descent Into Outright Dictatorship," along with a story on the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was detained Sunday for "treason."

"It's a dark day for press freedom in Cambodia," editor-in-chief Jodie DeJonge, told Agence France-Presse.

The English-language paper was slapped with a multi-million dollar tax bill last month, which was supposed to be paid by Sept. 4. The Daily said the $6.3 million figure was "arbitrary" and not based on audits. " The Daily has been targeted with an astronomical tax assessment, leaks and false statements," the paper said in a statement.

More than a dozen radio stations carrying opposition content, along with U.S.-funded broadcasters Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, have also been forced to close, the Daily reported . U.S. non-profit the National Democratic Institute and at least one other U.S. charity were expelled from the country.

In the run up to crucial general elections next year, strongman Hun Sen has sought to stifle opposition voices. Kem Sokha, the head of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) — which made surprise gains in the 2013 elections — was arrested early Sunday on allegations that he schemed with Washington, a perennial target of Hun Sen's rants. In a statement, the Cambodian government alleged "a secret plan of conspiracy between Kem Sokha, his group, and foreigners that harms Cambodia," according to AFP.

Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who has ruled the country for three decades, often uses the courts to silence critics. In October, the government formally exiled Sam Rainsy — who led the CNRP before Sokha — o rdering immigration officials to “take legal action to prevent this person from entering Cambodia” after he fled to France to avoid criminal defamation charges.</s>Cambodia Daily Newspaper To Close After 24 Years

Enlarge this image toggle caption Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images

One of Cambodia's major English-language newspapers will close this week because it is unable to pay what the government says it owes in back taxes.

In a statement released Sunday, The Cambodia Daily says "as a result of extra-legal threats by the government," the paper will stop publication on Monday, Sept. 4. That's the deadline the government gave the paper when it slapped it with a $6.3 million tax bill last month, accusing it of failing to pay that amount in taxes over the past decade. The fine came as a result of an investigation Prime Minister Hun Sen called for into private companies operating in Cambodia.

The Daily has been operating legally in the country since its founding in 1993 by American journalist, Bernard Krisher.

"The allegations of theft are unfounded and defamatory," said Deborah Krisher-Steele, daughter of the founder and the paper's deputy publisher, in a statement.

Jodie DeJonge, the editor-in-chief, told NPR that they couldn't pay the enormous tax bill and that they'd asked for a formal audit, but never received one. Both the paper and the publisher argue that this really has nothing to do with taxes and more to do with Hun Sen trying to curb dissent ahead of the general elections next year.

Journalists and media watchers across the region, some of them alums of the paper, reacted to the closing with heartfelt messages.

This is not the first time Hun Sen has gone after the media and The Daily directly. Over the last 30 some years of his reign, the paper has unabashedly held the former Khmer Rouge commander's feet to the fire in both English and Khmer.

But the strongman has no plans to relinquish that power anytime soon, and when the opposition party did better than expected during June's local elections, Hun Sen started cracking down on dissent and free speech.

In fact, The Daily's final major story was to break news that the leader of the opposition party had been arrested on charges of treason.

Enlarge this image toggle caption Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images

Last month, the government ordered the U.S.-funded National Democratic Institute to close and has also gone after Cambodian radio stations. The Khmer-language arms of Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have also been sent tax notices.

Human rights advocates have strongly rebuked Hun Sen's actions.

Steven Butler, the Asia program director for the Committee to Project Journalists, says what's happening in Cambodia is an example of a time of "depressed free expression" Southeast Asia is going through right now.

"I know it's absolutely true that press freedom has come under pressure in many countries," Butler says. He says the way China tightly controls its Internet and the press, as well as the way the United States is not speaking out in favor of speech right now, may be to blame.

Butler says losing The Daily is not just a little setback in the long-term war journalists are fighting, but that the struggle for freedom of expression will continue.</s>PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia released eight protesters hours after police detained them for demonstrating against what activists described as the politically motivated imprisonment of a group of rights workers and an election official.

Two of the protesters were foreign men, one Swedish and one German.

They were freed on Monday night after being questioned for supporting rights activists who were jailed over an ongoing sex scandal investigation involving opposition politician Kem Sokha.

“They released us after over 10-hour detention,” Ee Sarom, one of those detained, told Reuters on Tuesday.

A series of legal cases filed against prominent members of the main opposition party have raised tensions in Cambodia, where self-styled strong man Prime Minister Hun Sen has held power for 30 years.

Rights groups have accused the government of using the legal system to neutralize the opposition to give Hun Sen an advantage in the run up to the next general election in 2018.

Sam Rainsy, the leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), is in exile to avoid prison on charges that were reactivated last year and for which he had previously received a royal pardon.

Kem Sokha, the party’s acting president in Rainsy’s absence, is facing charges for defamation and procurement of prostitution after recordings of a telephone conversation purportedly between Sokha and a woman were leaked.

Six other people - including a United Nations employee - allegedly paid the woman to deny she had a relationship with Sokha, and are facing trial on bribery charges.

The UN worker has not been detained.</s>One of Cambodia’s most stridently independent newspapers, the Cambodia Daily, published its last edition on Monday with the headline “Descent Into Outright Dictatorship” as it closed amid a crackdown on critics of prime minister Hun Sen.



The English-language paper had been given a deadline of one month to pay $6.3m in years of back taxes, which the publication disputed and described as “astronomical”.

Its final front page led with the arrest on Sunday of Cambodia’s main opposition leader, Kem Sokha, who was accused of treason in a significant escalation of the campaign against Hun Sen’s opponents. The paper also reported on its own closure.

“We have been a burr in Hun Sen’s side for the entire time that we have been operating,” said the newspaper’s American editor-in-chief, Jodie DeJonge.

“This paper takes special pride in writing about some of the toughest issues,” she told Reuters as journalists polished their final articles and office workers packed belongings into cardboard boxes.

The paper printed only a few thousand copies a day but had a reputation for breaking news about sensitive topics such as corruption, waste, environmental issues and land rights.

Hun Sen defended the deadline given to the paper, saying it had to pay tax the same as any other business.

“When they didn’t pay and we asked them to leave the country, they said we are a dictatorship,” he said.

The pro-government Fresh News website quoted tax authorities as saying that the tax bill stands even if the paper shuts down and that whoever is responsible at the publication would be barred from leaving Cambodia until the money is paid.

Independent media, opposition politicians and rights activists have been among casualties of a widening crackdown in the run-up to an election next year in which Hun Sen could face his toughest challenge of more than three decades in power.

During his rule Cambodia has been transformed from a failed state after the genocide of the Khmer Rouge, in which he was once a soldier. But disaffection has grown and the opposition increased its share of the vote in June local elections.

Until recently, Cambodia has had relatively free media compared with neighbours such as communist Vietnam and army-ruled Thailand.

“When the Cambodia Daily is shut down, it means press freedom in Cambodia is finished,” said Chhorn Chansy, a 35-year-old Cambodian who is news editor on the paper. It employed more than 30 journalists, about half of whom were foreigners.

Eighteen radio stations were also ordered off the air last month and local radio stations have been stopped from leasing time to the United States-funded Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.

Hun Sen, 65, has increased his rhetoric against the United States, expelling a US pro-democracy group and on Sunday accusing Washington of conspiring with Kem Sokha.

The Daily was founded by American journalist Bernard Krisher in 1993 and Hun Sen this year berated some of its journalists as “servants of foreigners”. The paper said its assets would revert to Krisher, who is now 86 and living in Japan.

DeJonge said that the Daily had “never taken a penny” from foreign governments or NGOs and just about broke even thanks to advertising, subscriptions and money from Krisher.

“It was already in a perilous financial position,” she said. “The government threats against the paper basically strangled the Daily. There was no money to continue, no money to pay our journalists.”</s>Rights groups slam closure of Cambodian daily as fears grow over widening crackdown on government critics ahead of vote.

As journalists closed its doors for the last time early on Monday morning, the independent Phnom Penh-based newspaper the Cambodia Daily had one last headline for the government it tirelessly worked to keep in check for more than 24 years: "Descent Into Outright Dictatorship".

The headline ran with a photo of Kem Sokha, a Cambodian opposition party leader who was arrested at his house in the early hours of Sunday for "treason".

The newspaper's final front page was aimed at marking a low point for a country that just over three years ago saw tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets in a pro-democracy movement that hoped to topple long-serving ruler Prime Minister Hun Sen.

At the time, Cambodians mobilised to protest the results of a 2013 election that the opposition said were rigged.

The demonstrations posed the greatest challenge to the leader in three decades, and with elections slated for next year opponents accuse the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of a widening crackdown against critical voices.

"It is a total threat to democracy and the right to information of the people for the upcoming election," Mu Sochua, senior member of the opposition party, told Al Jazeera.

READ MORE: Cambodia Daily to close after tax fight with government

The Cambodia Daily's long tenure of uninterrupted news coverage came to an end after a month-long dispute with the government's tax department, which slapped the newspaper with $6.3m in back taxes, a figure the newspaper strongly disagrees with.

But they also had to endure attacks from Hun Sen himself, who branded the Cambodia Daily a "thief".

"These are perilous times for journalism and the Daily could have survived the tax, and could have survived the onslaught from the government, but then those two things collided it made it impossible for the Daily to go on," Jodie DeJonge, Cambodia Daily editor, told Al Jazeera.

"It's a terrible end for a newspaper that did so much to deliver information to the Cambodian people," she said.

The newspaper was founded in 1993 by former Newsweek foreign correspondent Bernard Krisher at the behest of then King Norodom Sihanouk, who was also a regular reader.

Despite having a small staff of around 30 journalists, The Cambodia Daily enjoyed a good international reputation in addition to being a training ground for young journalists, who would go on to work for top-tier news organisations including The Associated Press, Reuters and The New York Times.

But the government is not through with the Cambodia Daily yet. Even after the newspaper shuttered its offices, the taxation department on Monday issued a statement barring its publishers, Deborah Krisher Steele and husband Douglas Steele, from leaving the country until the debt is paid.

"It's extremely troubling that not only would they go for the Daily, but after closing it still want a piece of the Daily," said DeJonge.

The closing of The Cambodia Daily has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups who are now calling for donours to pressure the government to reverse the action.

"The government's targeting of the highly regarded Cambodia Daily is one of the gravest threats to freedom of the press in Cambodia since the 1991 Paris Peace Accords," Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at US-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement.

Government critics say the closure of the newspaper and the arrest of leader Kem Sokha are only the latest in a series of attacks on both the media and pro-democracy institutions ahead of next year's elections.

Last month, a total of 18 radio stations were ordered off-the-air, while access to the United States-funded Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have also been limited.

Also in August, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the US-based National Democratic institute to halt its operations in the country and its staff to leave for not fulfilling tax and registration obligations.

The moves signal a growing rift between the US and an increasingly pro-China Cambodia, according to analysts.

"For years, Hun Sen's government has equated the American promotion of democracy with the promotion of regime change. This is mostly fantasy, but there's a lot of historical resentment behind this view," said Sebastian Strangio, author of "Hun Sen's Cambodia".

"In the 1980s, the US was actively funding and supporting the CPP's enemies; after UNTAC [United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia, groups like IRI [International Republican Institute] began working in Cambodia, at times explicitly expressing their support for the opposition. In the early 2000s, Congressmen called on several occasions for 'regime change. All of these actions have remained firmly in the minds of the Cambodian leadership, and they have long memories."

"These measures undercut Cambodia's progress in recent decades and raise serious questions about the government's ability to organise credible national elections in 2018 which produce an outcome that enjoys democratic legitimacy," the US Embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement on Sunday.

Despite withering hopes that Cambodia would one day become one of Southeast Asia's democratic strongholds, staunch Cambodia Daily readers who took to social media to show solidarity for the now befallen newspaper maintained hope that it may once again rise to restore a tradition of free speech it helped establish for more than two decades.

"All of you are heroes. [The] Cambodia Daily brought real, useful, logic … to [the] Cambodian people. We really appreciate you and hope you will come back," one user wrote on Facebook.

Philip Heijmans is a freelance journalist formerly based in Myanmar and Cambodia and once served as an editor at The Cambodia from 2010-2012.</s>Cambodia's tax department has ordered that the expatriate general manager of a newspaper forced to close on Monday must stay in the country until the company pays an $8 million tax bill.

The Cambodia Daily has operated for 24 years, providing a rare voice of independent news and, at times critical, views.

It published its last edition on Monday amid a widening assault on the Government's critics, with the front page headline: "Descent into outright dictatorship."

The Government accused it of failing to pay taxes and ordered the huge sum paid almost immediately.

"The General Department of Taxation requests cooperation with General Department of Immigration to prevent travel out of Cambodia by Ms Deborath [sic] Krisher Steele and Mr Douglas Eric Steele, who are responsible, to push [them] to make the payment," according to the Southeast Asia Globe.

On Sunday, Ms Steele was in Tokyo but it was believed Mr Steel was in Cambodia.

It may have looked like a church newsletter, but The Cambodia Daily did the hard yards of newsgathering, fuelling diplomatic cables, academic research and beery conversations. 

 

Throughout 2005 it started my day, as I led the rival English language newspaper, the Phnom Penh Post.

 

The Daily was required reading in Cambodia. 

 

The late King Norodom Sihanouk was an avid reader, according to founder Bernard Krisher, describing it as his "CIA ... it's the only way I can know what is really happening because no one tells me".

 

Squeezing Cambodia's complexities into 300-or-so-words was how many young Cambodian and foreign reporters forged their journalistic skills.

 

While the Phnom Penh Post survives, newspapers flourish amid healthy competition. 

 

The end of The Cambodia Daily is a great loss for the country, and an example of how far Hun Sen will go to settle scores and silence free speech. 

 

- Analysis by Liam Cochrane

"For the time being there is a due process to keep them from leaving Cambodia and they [the tax department] will seek the court to intervene in this matter," Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, told the Southeast Asia Globe.

Prime Minister Hun Sen labelled The Cambodia Daily a "chief thief" — seeming to take a personal interest in the taxation matter.

"The power to tax is the power to destroy ... and after 24 years, one month and 15 days, the Cambodian Government has destroyed The Cambodia Daily, a special and singular part of Cambodia's free press," the newspaper said in a statement.

The statement suggested there may be a tax issue, but said the amount had been announced with no audit of the newspaper and promptly leaked to pro-Government media.

Founder and former journalist Bernard Krisher ran the paper at a loss, while his non-profit organisation World Assistance for Cambodia and Japan Relief for Cambodia have built more than 500 schools across the kingdom.

'Platform for the voices of the Cambodian people'

The final issue was a scramble to cover not only the paper's own sudden demise, but the arrest of the country's opposition leader Kem Sokha.

Some staff worked 24 hours straight on the last edition, editor-in-chief Jodie DeJonge said.

"You'd think that they'd all head off and have a pint, and some of them did of course, but most of the staff was just exhausted," she said.

"We have Australians on the staff and these are people who worked for very little money because they believed in the mission of the Daily.

"They felt that they were providing this voice, this platform for the voices of the Cambodian people."

The Cambodian Government has also closed down radio stations and ordered others not to broadcast independent news in Khmer, provided by Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.

The result is that much of the rural population — where internet and social media is less common — has been left without independent news.

"The Daily is really a piece of a much broader effort by the Government to quash dissenting voices, going into a critical election year," DeJonge said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has ruled for 32 years but faces a surging opposition at the 2018 national election, with a new generation of young voters not content with the endemic corruption and nepotism of the past.</s>Cambodia Daily to close following tax row with government

Reporters of the English-laguage newspaper Cambodia Daily watch a video clip featuring Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha at their newsroom in Phnom Penh on September 3, 2017. — AFP picPHNOM PENH, Sept 3 — One of Cambodia’s last remaining independent newspapers announced today it was closing after 24 years, the latest in a series of blows to critics of strongman premier Hun Sen.

The Cambodia Daily said today’s edition would be its last after it was slapped with a US$6.3 million (RM26.9 million) tax bill which its publishers said was politically motivated.

“The power to tax is the power to destroy. And after 24 years, one month and 15 days, the Cambodian government has destroyed The Cambodia Daily, a special and singular part of Cambodia’s free press,” the newspaper said in a statement.

The paper blamed “extra-legal threats by the government to close the Daily, freeze its accounts and prosecute the new owner” for the closure.

The announcement came hours after opposition leader Kem Sokha was arrested and accused of treason.

The Cambodia Daily was set up in 1993 by veteran American journalist Bernard Krisher in the aftermath of Cambodia’s genocide from 1975-78 and subsequent civil war. It publishes in English but also carries some articles in Khmer.

Krisher sold the paper to his daughter Deborah Krisher-Steele in April.

Last month the Cambodian tax department said the paper owed US$6.3 million in back taxes, with Hun Sen branding the owners “thieves” in one of his recent speeches.

The paper said the figure was “arbitrary” and not based on an audit of its books.

“We just can’t believe that on Monday morning we are going to wake up and not come and put out another newspaper. It’s a tremendous loss.”

The paper is not the only independent media organisation to come under pressure. Tax probes have also been announced by the government against the US-funded Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, who say they have complied with local laws.

A group of local radio stations which carried Khmer-language VOA and RFA content have also been shuttered or banned from broadcasting their content.

Last week the US expressed “deep concern” over the state of Cambodia’s democracy after the government there ordered out an American NGO. — AFP</s>Newspaper says Monday's edition will be its last after receiving $6.3m tax bill, which it calls politically motivated.

One of Cambodia's last remaining independent newspapers announced on Sunday it was closing after 24 years, the latest in a series of blows to critics of prime minster Hun Sen.

The Cambodia Daily said Monday's edition would be its last after it was slapped with a $6.3m tax bill which its publishers said was politically motivated.

"The power to tax is the power to destroy. And after 24 years, one month and 15 days, the Cambodian government has destroyed The Cambodia Daily, a special and singular part of Cambodia's free press," the newspaper said in a statement.

The paper blamed "extra-legal threats by the government to close the Daily, freeze its accounts and prosecute the new owner" for the closure.

The announcement came hours after opposition leader Kem Sokha was arrested and accused of treason.

The Cambodia Daily was set up in 1993 by veteran American journalist Bernard Krisher in the aftermath of Cambodia's genocide from 1975-78 and subsequent civil war.

It publishes in English but also carries some articles in Khmer.

Krisher sold the paper to his daughter Deborah Krisher-Steele in April.

Last month the Cambodian tax department said the paper owned $6.3m in back taxes, with Hun Sen branding the owners "thieves" in one of his recent speeches.

The paper said the figure was "arbitrary" and not based on an audit of its books.

"It's a dark day for press freedom in Cambodia," editor Jodie DeJonge told AFP news agency on Sunday.

"We just can't believe that on Monday morning we are going to wake up and not come and put out another newspaper. It's a tremendous loss."

The paper is not the only independent media organisation to come under pressure. Tax probes have also been announced by the government against the US-funded Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, who say they have complied with local laws.

A group of local radio stations which carried Khmer-language VOA and RFA content have also been shuttered or banned from broadcasting their content.

Last week the US expressed "deep concern" over the state of Cambodia's democracy after the government there ordered out an American NGO.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper announces it will publish its final edition after being ordered to pay USD$6.3 million in taxes as a result of an investigation, initiated by Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen, into private companies operating in Cambodia.