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WORLD NEWS Saturday 27 July 2019

Trial of Cambodian reporters who used to work for US begins

By SOPHENG CHEANG forward in the first place."
Associated Press "The Phnom Penh Court
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia Municipal Court can rectify
(AP) — The espionage trial this unnecessary and trou-
of two Cambodian journal- bling situation by dismissing
ists who formerly worked for the case and all charges
a U.S. government-funded against them without de-
radio station began Friday, lay," he said.
almost two years after their Police initially said the two
arrests. had been detained for run-
Uon Chhin and Yeang So- ning an unlicensed kara-
thearin appeared at the oke studio. But they were
Phnom Penh Municipal later accused of setting up
Court to defend them- a studio for RFA — which
selves against the charge they deny — and charged
that they had undermined with espionage.
national security by supply- The two were released on
ing information to a foreign bail a month after the 2018
state, which is punishable election, which was swept
by up to 15 years in prison. by Hun Sen's Cambodian
Rights groups have charac- People's Party in a vote
terized their case as a fla- widely seen as neither fair
grant attack on press free- nor credible because the
dom. Former Radio Free Asia reporter Yeang Sothearin, left, arrives at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, pro-government courts
The pair, who had already in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 26, 2019. had dissolved the main op-
left their jobs with Radio Associated Press position party in November
Free Asia, were arrested in tions, some of which had free press." Its programs are according to the law, we 2017.
November 2017 during a rebroadcast Radio Free transmitted by radio and do hope that we will be The conditions for granting
crackdown on the media Asia's programs. The Eng- television and also carried freed because we have release on bail included
and political opponents lish-language The Cambo- online. done nothing wrong ac- monthly police station vis-
of Prime Minister Hun Sen's dia Daily newspaper also The former journalists in in- cording to the charges," its and confiscation of their
government, ahead of the was forced to shut down, terviews this week with The Yeang Sothearin said in a passports.
July 2018 general election. leaving almost all critical Associated Press insisted phone interview. Hun Sen, who has been
Radio Free Asia had closed voices inside the country they have done noth- "We hope that we will get in office since 1985 and
its Phnom Penh bureau hushed. ing wrong and hoped the a good result from the Fri- has held a tight grip on
in September 2017, citing Radio Free Asia is funded court would drop both the day trial and that we will be power since ousting a co-
government intimidation by an independent U.S. charges against them. Po- freed," Uon Chhin added. prime minister in a bloody
of the media, which it said government agency, and lice in March 2018 added a Rohit Mohajan, a spokes- 1997 coup, has a record
had reached an "unprec- says its mission is "to provide charge of producing por- man for Radio Free Asia, of cracking down harshly
edented level." accurate and timely news nography, which is punish- said in an email that the when facing a serious chal-
By the end of 2017, the gov- and information to Asian able by up to a year in jail. two face "unsubstantiat- lenge, then effecting rec-
ernment had closed more countries whose govern- "If the court is independent ed charges, which never onciliation when he no lon-
than two dozen radio sta- ments prohibit access to a and the trial is conducted should have been brought ger feels threatened.q

Indonesia's Widodo tells AP he'll push economy, labor reform

By STEPHEN WRIGHT that could spook foreign in- mosque in a working-class
KARIN LAUB vestors courted by Widodo neighborhood where he
Associated Press as key drivers of economic performed Friday prayers.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) growth. "Things that were impossi-
— Indonesian President In a wide-ranging inter- ble before, I will make a lot
Joko Widodo said in an in- view, Widodo outlined of decisions on that in the
terview Friday that he will his priorities for his second next five years," said Wido-
push ahead with sweeping term, including continuing do, 58, who was reelected
and potentially unpopular large-scale infrastructure with a modestly increased
economic reforms, includ- projects and simplifying a majority in the April vote. In-
ing a more business-friendly cumbersome bureaucra- donesia has nearly 270 mil-
labor law, in his final term cy. He said labor laws will lion people and nearly 90%
because he is no longer be overhauled in what will are Muslims.
constrained by politics. be a politically challenging Widodo presents himself as
Widodo also told The Asso- decision to attract more in- a man of the people, often
ciated Press that it is "entire- vestment and create more emphasizing his humble
ly possible" that he could A Muslim woman takes a selfie with Indonesian President jobs. roots in a riverside slum in
ban the hard-line Islamic Joko Widodo, right, during his visit at the Old Town in Jakarta, "In the next five years I the central Java city of
Defenders Front during his Indonesia, Friday, July 26, 2019. have no political burden Solo. His popular appeal,
second five-year term. Associated Press so in making a decision, including his pioneering
The group wants Shariah in 2016 and 2017 against In recent years, Indonesia especially important deci- use of social media, helped
law to apply to Indonesia's the governor of Jakarta, a — the world's most popu- sions for the country, in my him win elections for mayor
230 million Muslims. It was Widodo ally, who was sub- lous Muslim-majority coun- opinion it will be easier," of Solo, governor of Jakar-
a key player in organiz- sequently imprisoned for try — has faced a rise in he said during a tour of Ja- ta and twice for president
ing massive street protests blasphemy. Muslim militancy, a trend karta, including a stop at a over the past 14 years. q