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Thein Zaw was previously jailed for two years in 1996 for protesting to local authorities about forced labor and Ko Ko Myint had also previously been jailed for two years in 1988, on charges of using unlicensed building materials.

 

Rights Groups Condemn Thai Media Crackdown

 

Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres and the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission have criticized a local Thai court that punished a Thai farmer for running a community radio station. A court in Ang Thong Province, central Thailand, handed 56-year-old Sathien Chanthorn a four month prison sentence and a fine of 40,000 Baht (US $1000) on Tuesday, after he was found guilty under a 1995 telecommunications law of broadcasting without a license and illegal possession of radio equipment.

 

“I followed the orders of the public relations department,” complained Sathien, who had been operating the Ang Thong Community Radio Learning Station. In a statement yesterday, RSF said: “This verdict violates the Thai constitution and poses a serious threat to the country’s thousands of community radio operators.” RSF also said that several FM and community transmitters were shut down by the government last year. AHRC described the case as having “serious implications for hundreds of community radio stations in Thailand,” operating on the basis of the 1997 constitution, which grants media freedom.

 

Cambodia Opens Offices for Khmer Rouge Trials

 

Cambodian and UN officials on Thursday unveiled their new administrative offices for the long-awaited trials of surviving Khmer Rouge leaders. Michelle Lee, a UN administrator, said staff began moving into the offices early this week. Cambodia and the United Nations agreed in 2003 to jointly convene trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders accused of responsibility for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution during the group's 1975-79 rule. Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998. The ultra-communist movement collapsed a year later, but none of its top leaders has been brought to justice. Many still live and move freely in Cambodia. Under the 2003 pact, Cambodia and the UN agreed to establish a special court for the Khmer Rouge leaders, but funding problems in Cambodia have delayed the trials. Many fear that remaining Khmer Rouge leaders may die before they can be tried. Cambodia has been asking donors to finance US $10.8 million of its $13.3 million share of the total estimated tribunal budget of $56.3 million. The United Nations has already secured its share of the budget, $43 million. The facilities, located in Cambodia's new military headquarters 10 miles west of the capital, Phnom Penh, include an auditorium for the trial proceedings and a four-story building to house administration staff for the trials, which could last three years. (AP)

 

Brunei Forces Prince to Reveal Bank Accounts

 

A Brunei government agency says it has successfully forced the Sultan's disgraced brother to disclose details of his bank accounts, in a bid to end a multibillion-dollar embezzlement scandal. The Brunei Investment Agency launched contempt of court proceedings last year against its own ex-chief, Prince Jefri Bolkiah, younger brother of ruler Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. Jefri, who was finance minister from 1986 to 1998, went on a massive spending spree with Brunei's money, channeled through the investment agency into his own Amedeo Development Corporation. When Amedeo crashed in the 1997 Asian financial crisis, its unpaid bills nearly bankrupted the oil-rich absolute monarchy. The agency filed legal actions after Jefri allegedly reneged on an out-of-court settlement ordering him to reveal his financial assets. But the agency said in a written statement Wednesday it has dropped the contempt proceedings after Jefri "produced a great deal of further information about his bank accounts and as to the financial support he was receiving from others to fund his lifestyle. The contempt proceedings had been successful in their purpose of compelling ... Prince Jefri to give disclosure," it said.