02/10/2024

WEDNESDAY | OCT 2, 2024

7 Award-winning Cambodian journalist arrested

New Japan PM unveils Cabinet TOKYO: Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba yesterday unveiled his Cabinet as he seeks to heal party divisions and secure a national mandate with an Oct 27 snap election. The 67-year-old former defence minister, who last week won a close fought contest to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was confirmed earlier in the day as prime minister by parliament. The veteran lawmaker has named a mixture of rivals and allies to Cabinet posts. It includes two leadership rivals in key positions, Katsunobu Kato as finance minister and Yoshimasa Hayashi to stay on as chief Cabinet secretary, the government announced. Kato’s appointment to the finance ministry will be closely watched given he served in key positions in former premier Shinzo Abe’s administration, which pursued expansionary fiscal and monetary policies. An Ishiba ally, Takeshi Iwaya, a former defence chief, will take over as foreign minister, while Gen Nakatani will return to the Defence Ministry, a position he held in 2016. Yoji Muto, a former junior minister, will take charge at the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry. Five of the lawmakers who contested the leadership race with him have not been included in his government nor given key party jobs. Among them is Takaichi, a hardline conservative he beat by 215 votes to 194 on Friday in the closest leadership election in almost seven decades. Media reported she had declined a senior party post. That could make it difficult for Ishiba, a perennial favourite in public opinion polls, to manage a fractious ruling group roiled by scandals. – Reuters BOAT ATTACKED NEAR CONTESTED ISLANDS HANOI: At least 10 Vietnamese fishermen were injured after their boat was attacked by a foreign vessel while fishing near the Paracel islands claimed by both China and Vietnam. The attack took place on Sunday, reported Thanh Nien newspaper, citing authorities in the central province of Quang Ngai. The report did not provide a description of the foreign vessel or how the fishing vessel was attacked. Three of the fishermen had their legs and arms broken, the report said, citing Nguyen Thanh Bien, the captain of the fishing boat QNg 957.39 TS . Vietnamese and Chinese foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Vietnamese authorities are investigating the incident. – Reuters INDONESIA TO SET UP ANTI-HOAX TASKFORCE JAKARTA: Indonesia is setting up an anti-hoax taskforce to combat fake online news and misinformation during regional elections next month. The taskforce will collaborate with digital platforms. “We are providing opportunities for these platforms to take part in preventing the spread of false information,” said Prabu Revolusi, director-general of public information and communication at the Communication and Informatics Ministry. Although the ministry has not recorded any increase in false information, it aims to maintain a conducive situation leading up to the elections on Nov 27. – Bernama

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PHNOM PENH: An award-winning Cambodian journalist known for his reporting on human trafficking in the cyber scam industry has been arrested, police said yesterday. Mech Dara was last year presented with a Hero Award, which recognises efforts against human trafficking, by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his investigations into exploitation at online scam compounds in Cambodia. Authorities made the arrest on Monday after stopping a car carrying Dara and his family from o Detainee’s location kept under wraps

farms” – criminal operations that defraud victims online for vast sums of cash and fuel human trafficking across the region. Cambodia places near the bottom of international press freedom rankings, and rights groups have long accused the government of using legal cases as a tool to silence dissenting voices. Independent newspaper The Cambodia Daily closed in 2017 over a tax dispute, while scores of other outlets closed the following year ahead of elections. The United States last month imposed sanctions against an adviser to former prime minister Hun Sen for alleged abuses related to cyber scam trafficking, a decision Cambodia slammed as politically motivated. – AFP

taken or the reason for his arrest,” said LICADHO operations director Am Sam Ath. A day before his arrest, Dara had posted an image on his social media platforms that purportedly showed a tourist site demolished to make way for a quarry, according to CamboJA. Local authorities labelled the now-deleted images “fake news” and called for Dara to face punishment for their publication. Dara previously worked for independent media outlet Voice of Democracy before Cambodian authorities shut it down in February last year. He has since used his social media platforms to share news content, particularly around the proliferation of notorious “scam

Sihanoukville – a coastal city where many suspected scam operations take place – to Phnom Penh, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA) said in a statement. Military police spokesman Eng Hy confirmed the arrest but refused to say where Dara was being held or which court he would be sent to. “We executed the warrant from a prosecutor. As for the charges, we cannot say now. We have to wait for the investigation first,” he said. Dara, whose work has appeared in various international news outlets, sent a message about his arrest to LICADHO, a human rights NGO, just before his phone was seized by military police. “We knew that he was arrested but we don’t know where he was

VITAL VOTE ... An Indian soldier stands guard as voters queue up to cast their ballots at a polling station in Bandipora during the third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections yesterday. – AFPPIC

Thai court approves extradition of hill tribe activist BANGKOK: A Thai court approved on Monday the extradition of a leading hill tribe activist to Vietnam, where he faces 10 years in jail over attacks on police posts. said the Vietnamese charges were similar to what constitutes “terrorism” in Thailand, so Bdap could be extradited. has urged Thailand to refuse the extradition request. activists. It accuses them of engaging in“barbaric and inhumane acts” and inciting anti-government activities from abroad.

UN-affiliated experts warned in July that Bdap would be at risk of “torture or other ill-treatment or punishment”if sent back to Vietnam. Police blamed the attacks on Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ), a group pushing for freedom of religion for Vietnam’s hill tribes and ethnic minority groups that has been branded as “terrorist” by the authorities. Vietnamese police say Bdap is the founder of MSFJ and accuse him of directing people to carry out the attacks. Vietnam has issued international arrest warrants for Bdap and other

The courts sentenced almost 100 people in January in relation to the 2023 attacks in Dak Lak province, accusing them of seeking to “overthrow the state”. All were from ethnic minority groups. Montagnards, the collective name for various tribes in the area, sided with the US-backed south during Vietnam’s decades-long war. Some are also calling for more autonomy, while others abroad advocate independence for the region. – AFP

His lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman said they would appeal against the decision. She said: “It is disappointing, it is unacceptable. Our arguments have not been considered. I just hope that the government will sign an executive order not to extradite him.” The decision still needs to be approved by the government because Thailand has no extradition agreement with Vietnam. Bdap has been granted refugee status by the United Nations, which

Judges in Bangkok ruled that Y Quynh Bdap, who has lived in exile in Thailand since 2018, could be sent back to his home country, where a court convicted him in his absence in January of terrorism offences. Bdap was accused of remotely orchestrating attacks in June 2023, in which gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on two police posts in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, killing nine people in a rare act of violence against the communist authorities. A judge at the Bangkok court