The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) strongly condemns the fatal shooting of a Cambodian journalist and his son on 11 July 2008. Reporter Khim Sambo, 47, died on the spot after he was shot twice in the back as he emerged from sports stadium in Phnom Penh on Friday evening. His son, Khat Sarin Theada, 22, was shot in the chest and later died in hospital.

Phnom Penh's police chief Touch Naruth said they are still looking for the perpatrators.
SEAPA joins its Alerts parter, the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), in condemning this barbarous act. We call on the Cambodian police and authorities to decisively bring the murderers to justice.

Khim Sambo's death comes amid heightening violence and tension in Cambodia in the runup to general elections in on 27 July 2008.  The journalist had been working for the daily Khmer-language "Moneakseka Khmer (Khmer Conscience)", a newspaper known to back  opposition leader Sam Rainsy.

Moneakseka Khmer's editor, Dam Sith, was recently charged for printing allegations that Cambodia's foreign minister had ties to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, the Agence France Presse notes. The charge was later dropped, and CAPJ says that the attack on Khim Sambo came soon after his editor's release.

CAPJ President Um Sarin stressed that unless the police move swiftly and reassuringly, the attack on Khim Sambo could have a chilling effect on Cambodia's press, and taint the larger environment for the upcoming elections.