Cambodian Radio Boss Charged with Inciting Riots
Fri January 31, 2003 03:06 AM ET
By Ek Madra
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The owner of an independent Cambodian radio station was charged Friday with inciting this week's riots in which the Thai embassy in the Cambodian capital and Thai-owned businesses were destroyed.
As road sweepers cleared the rubble and debris from riot-scarred Phnom Penh, police chiefs said 151 suspected rioters had also been rounded up and that a heavy military presence on the streets had restored law and order.
"It's quiet. Police and security officials have 100 percent control," said Mak Savuthy, a military official responsible for security in the capital.
With investigations into the cause of the unrest already under way, prosecutors charged Mom Sonando, owner of Beehive FM radio, with three counts of broadcasting false information, inciting acts of racism and instigating people to commit crimes.
Mom Sonando, whose station was banned last year from re-broadcasting items from Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, accused authorities of violating the right to free speech.
"They blame me because of one person's opinion aired on my radio related to Siam (Thailand) and linked to false information," Mom Sonando, who is being held on remand and undergoing further questioning, told reporters.
"I am proud to be in prison for the interest of people's opinion."
It was not immediately clear what was said on the radio but the anti-Thai riots which engulfed Phnom Penh Wednesday night and prompted hundreds of Thais to flee were fanned by rumors about attacks on the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok.
Although Phnom Penh was calm Friday, police still resorted to firing shots into the air to disperse looters at a smoking plastics factory torched in the riot.
In neighboring Thailand, where the Wednesday night riots sparked diplomatic rage and a downgrading of relations between the two Association of South East Asian Nations countries, tempers also appeared to be cooling.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen wrote to his Thai counterpart saying Phnom Penh took full responsibility for the unrest. "This is a good and quick response and gesture from the Cambodian side," Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters.
Thailand's foreign ministry has estimated the damage to Thai property in Phnom Penh -- much of it belonging to the country's biggest companies -- at one billion baht ($23.41 million), although some analysts say the figure could be much higher.
Cambodia has promised to pay compensation.
OUT OF CONTROL
Cambodian opposition parties slammed Mom Sonando's detention, saying it looked like a crackdown in the run-up to a July general election in which Cambodia's national identity and international relations are now likely to play a much larger role.
The riots appeared to be ignited by an alleged comment by a Thai actress that the ancient Angkor Wat temples, Cambodia's national symbol depicted on its flag, belonged to Thailand. The actress has denied making the remarks.
The government admitted the sudden mob uprising had taken it by surprise, and blamed extremists for fanning the flames, while opposition leader Sam Rainsy was quick to say he saw the hand of his adversary, Hun Sen, behind the riots.
"Hun Sen is like a child who plays with fire," Sam Rainsy told Reuters. "He can set the house on fire or can himself get burned. He did not expect it to go so far and it got totally out of control." (Additional reporting by Dan Eaton)
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