Cambodia drops ban of foreign-produced radio shows

Cambodia on Sunday reversed a ban on local radio stations airing foreign-produced broadcasts in the run up to next month's general election, following U.S. criticism of the move as an attack on freedom of expression. Local FM radio stations were this week ordered by the Information Ministry to provide "neutral" coverage of the election campaign and to suspend broadcasting Khmer-language programmes made by foreign broadcasters until after the July 28 general election. The edict was criticised by broadcasters and the U.S. State Department, who said it was a "serious infringement" of freedom of expression. But in a U-turn on Sunday the Information Ministry issued a statement saying it had allowed local radio stations "to resume airing (foreign-produced) programmes as usual." U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA), which produces content in the Khmer language, had called the ban "a blatant strategy to silence the types of disparate and varied voices that characterise an open and free society." Cambodia on Thursday officially started campaigning for the July 28 general election, expected to be won by strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen who is seeking to extend his 28-year grip on the country. His government is regularly accused of suppressing political freedoms and muzzling activists. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, his main challenger, is barred from running in the polls due to a string of convictions that the opposition says are politically motivated. Rainsy, who lives in exile in France to avoid prison, faces 11 years in jail if he returns, after he was convicted in absentia for charges that included publishing a "false map" of the border with Vietnam.