"Prei Dei Teuk Sakmai Hun Sen" a Poem in Khmer by Yim Guechsè

"Prei Dei Teuk Sakmai Hun Sen" a Poem in Khmer by Yim Guechsè

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Graffiti attack inside Tuol Sleng

From Scott Batsford

To whom it may concern

It has recently come to my attention that a UK Resident, one Fabrizio Cammisecra, has defaced Tuol Sleng museum in Phnom Penh with graffiti in an attempt to promote his so called graffiti “art”.

Here is his website with photos of him actively vandalizing S21, as well as Cheung Ek, with his signature tag graffiti (you must scroll the browser window sideways to view the images): http://www.codefc.org/S-21.html

My wife is a Cambodian National who lost many relatives to the Khmer Rouge. We will always hold in our hearts those who died in agony inside of S21. The selfish, self-promoting act of vandalism committed by Mr. Cammisecra is an open insult to the memory of the victims of the atrocity, to Cambodians and Khmers and to right thinking people world-wide.

I hope you will assist in contacting local, as well as Cambodian and international authorities and groups so that this individual is prosecuted and publicly shamed as a deterrent to others who might seek to exploit the memory of the innocent souls who perished in the terrible days of the Khmer Rouge regime. I also hope that Mr. Cammisecra receives a permanent blacklist from Cambodia.

Here are some further details of Mr. Cammisecera:

Name: Fabrizio Cammisecra (fc)

Age: 30-34

Email: codefc@hotmail.com

Phone numbers:
+44 7906 147083
+44 7814 728381
+44 2088 709929

Address:
135 tavistock crescent, London

Facebook:
http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/iraqia/codefc/248751956287

Sites:
http://www.codefc.org/S-21.html
http://www.codefc.org
http://myspace.com/codefc
http://flickr.com/#codefc
http://www.vimeo.com/user793654
http://www.youtube.com/user/codefc
http://www.flickr.com/photos/codefc/

Thank you for your attention to this matter

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"Happy Mother's Day!" Poems in Khmer by Sam Vichea & KC

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Who censored Chea Vichea?

Friday, 07 May 2010
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Government’s various reasons for blocking screenings have observers puzzled

AN attempt to show a controversial documentary exploring the death of union leader Chea Vichea was quickly quashed last week, but some observers are questioning the multitude of reasons authorities have offered for banning public screenings of the film.

Various government departments weighed in when organisers announced plans to show Who Killed Chea Vichea? near the site where the influential union leader was gunned down in 2004.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith initially said the government would have no “political objections” to the screening.

But Phnom Penh officials then demanded that organisers obtain approval from “relevant ministries” that was never granted.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said the foreign-produced film had been “illegally imported”. And the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts stated that it must approve all films screened in Cambodia.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said the Culture Ministry does have the power to act as a national film-review board, but that using this as a pretense for blocking screenings of the Chea Vichea film was “pretty bogus”.

“The only legitimate question to me is the public showing of the film. And that to me is a freedom of expression issue,” he said.

“The government knows full well that the screening of the film is mainly a protest against the government’s handling of the Chea Vichea case.
There are no legality issues here.”

Other organisations regularly screen films in public without asking the Ministry of Culture for permission, he said.

Nevertheless, an official with the ministry said Thursday that authorities plan to reject all requests to stage public screenings of the film.

“The movie does not have the proper legalities,” said Kong Kantara, an undersecretary of state. “If it is for public screening. It must have permission from the ministry.”

He added that any foreign film (Who Killed Chea Vichea? is American-produced) must be imported by a Cambodian company holding the rights to bring in films from abroad.

“This film does not have enough conditions that it could be allowed,” Kong Kantara said.

Chea Vichea’s family as well as rights groups have long believed that the two men convicted in the 2004 murder are innocent.

The slain unionist’s brother, Chea Mony, has said that the government was involved in the death.

Bradley Cox, who directed Who Killed Chea Vichea?, said he was sceptical of the government’s motives for stopping the film from being shown.

“It is interesting that the reasons given to block the screening keep shifting,” he wrote in an email. “It seems to me the Ministry of Culture is just a government device to censure any material that is critical of the ruling elite.”

In the meantime, opposition parliamentarians are pledging to show the film on an unspecified date, despite the government’s warnings.

“If the government prevents our screening, it means that the government does not dare face reality,” said Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann. “What is the government’s relation to this murder?”

Tith Sothea, spokesman for the Press and Quick Reaction Unit at the Council of Ministers, said the film’s backers are being disingenuous in their reasons for showing it publicly.

“The screening is just for political profit,” he said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY IRWIN LOY

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No peeking on the villa built with corruption money

A woman uses a treadmill on Thursday at AusFit, a fitness centre atop the Skyline Apartments in Chamkarmon district that overlooks Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Phnom Penh residence (centre). The gym is scheduled to close at the end of the month because, the owner says, government officials have expressed concern that it poses a national security risk. (Photo by: Rick Valenzuela)
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s home, as seen from the AusFit gym. (Photo by: Rick Valenzuela)

AusFit reportedly to be evicted over ‘national security’ concerns

Friday, 07 May 2010
Brooke Lewis and Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

THE owner of a gym on the ninth floor of the Skyline Apartments, which overlook Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Phnom Penh villa, said Thursday that local police have ordered him to relocate due to “national security” concerns.

Richard Chin said local police informed him “a couple months ago” that he would need to vacate by the end of May, despite the fact that he is less than one year into his five-year lease. Last week, he posted a letter notifying clients of the AusFit gym that “Cambodian National Security” told him he would be held “accountable for any incidents related to government personnel safety due to the apartment’s rooftop access”.

“I have been left with no option but to agree with the termination of the lease with Skyline Apartments and to relocate,” the letter states.

Asked about the notice Thursday, Chin said: “The reason the national security want to kick us out is because they believe AusFit is a breeding ground for terrorists.”