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Cambodian "president" puts insulters on trial

dimanche 29 janvier 2023 à 00:32

Hun Sen, "president" of Cambodia, regularly puts Cambodians on trial for posting words that insult him.

Cambodia isn't the only country that fails to recognize that freedom of speech includes the freedom to insult people -- even to insult the highest officials. France has prosecuted people for insulting President Sarkozy -- for instance, one defendant had said "Sarkozy, I see you" when the topic was an injustice. Some of these defendants were acquitted for various reasons, but the fact that the prosecution were not dismissed outright in the name of freedom of speech shows that respect for freedom of speech is lacking there.

I used to refer to Sarkozy as "Sarcômë", which means "cancer". Fortunately for me, I was never prosecuted.