Cambodian journalists reporting on illegal logging charged with extortion

Journalists and environmental activists in Cambodia are criticizing authorities’ filing of charges against three reporters accused of taking bribes to cover up illegal logging in a northern province, saying the loggers themselves should also be charged. Mom Vibal, 44, Tin Try, 29, and Tin Sitha, 27 — reporters for online and television news outlets in Preah Vihear province — were taken into custody on Nov. 23 and charged with extortion following a lawsuit filed by Vietnamese logging company PNT. The three are accused of demanding that U.S.$4,000 be paid to a group of four, including the three now under arrest, in exchange for blocking information on illegal purchases of timber by PNT, according to local media accounts