Published on September 01 2006
BY: CHAK Sopheap
It was unbelievable that the lawmakers voted for a new law allowing themselves to be charged with criminal offenses without their immunity first being lifted; ("Legislators vote to Limit their Own Speech," Thursday, page 1).
The new law will be used as a tool to silence parliamentarians. It is similar to the UNTAC Law on criminal defamation that was used to detain government critics late last year.
How can parliamentarians exercise their duties when they fear arrest, especially when the law does not define what constitutes the abuses of an individual's dignity, social customs, public order and national security?
Democracy is uncertain for