UNESCO chief condemns assassination of Cambodian radio journalist

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today condemned the assassination of a Cambodian radio journalist and called for the perpetrators of the killing to be tracked down and prosecuted.

Chuor Chetharith, a journalist with the Cambodian opposition radio station Ta Prum, was murdered in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on 18 October. He is the first journalist to be killed in Cambodia since 1997.

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said he hoped Cambodia would be able to maintain its recent good record on press freedom, despite the assassination.

“I am deeply shocked by the murder…all the more so as it was carried out so shortly after the journalist was criticized publicly for exercising his freedom of expression,” the Director-General said.