Chhoeung Chheung
Geneva: Two journalists, one each from Pakistan and Cambodia, were murdered in their respective countries within a week this month, Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, said here.
While Chhoeung Chheung (63) was the first such killing of a journalist in Cambodia this year, the murder of Malik Zafar Iqbal Naich (45), was the 12th such killing of a journo within 12 months of 2024.
Chhoeung Chheung was shot by a homemade gun inside a forest reserve in Siem Reap in Cambodia on December 4 and he succumbed to his injuries on December 7, whereas Malik Zafar Iqbal Naich was shot dead by the miscreants at Chowk Chanigoth under Rahimyarkhan district of Pakistan in the morning hours of December 12, 2024.
Malik’s family claimed that the local correspondent of Khabrain newspaper had no enmity to anyone in the locality. “He becomes the 162nd media person to be killed since 1 January 2024. We demand the Pakistani authorities to ensure justice to the bereaved family and hence allow no immunity to the killers,” Blaise Lempen, president of PEC, said in Geneva. Blaise also demanded justice for Cambodian journalist Chhoeung Chheung, who worked for an online media outlet named Kampuchea Aphivath (Cambodia Development News).
Chhoeung had emerged as a media activist against deforestation in Cambodia and hence he was seemingly targeted by the miscreants. The dedicated journalist died of bullet injuries on December 7, igniting protests by the international press freedom outfits. Blaise, while demanding justice for Chhoeung Chheung, who became the 161st media worker to be killed across 21 countries of the world till this year, claimed that the Cambodian authorities may try to project his murder as a personal vendetta. “Only a fair and comprehensive probe can justify the findings. We also urge the authority in Phnom Penh led by Prime Minister Hun Manet to compensate the bereaved family of Chheung, who raised voices against illegal timber logging in the tiny country,” Blaise said.
The local investigating agencies have already arrested one suspect who confessed to the shooting incident and it’s expected that the authoritarian government run by the Cambodian People’s Party will identify the actual cause of Chheung’s elimination.
Besides Cambodia, many south and southeast Asian nations have lost many journalists to assailants this year, where Pakistan topped the list ( 11 media casualties), followed by Bangladesh (7), India (4), Myanmar (3), Indonesia (1) and Philippines (1).
Pakistan, even though without any war on it, continues to lose media persons to assailants. PEC’s South Asia representative Nava Thakuria informed that besides Malik Zafar Iqbal Naich, the journalists who were killed in Pakistan this year till date, were Janan Hussain, Jam Saghir Ahmed Lar, Tahira Nosheen Rana, Muhammad Siddiq Mengel, Mehar Ashfaq Siyal, Kamran Dawar, Nasrullah Gadani, Khalil Jibran, Hasan Zaib, Muhammad Bachal Ghunio and Nisar Lehri.
– global bihari bureau
