Cambodian minister wins $7,000 suit

Cambodian minister wins $7,000 suit

PHNOM PENH (AP): A Cambodian reporter and two former American colleagues were found guilty on Friday of defaming the foreign minister in articles that implicated him in the deaths of prisoners during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule.

Judge Bunning Bunary ordered the reporters to pay Foreign Minister Hor Namhong a total of $6,500 in compensation and also a $1,280 fine to the state. The plaintiff had demanded $1 million in compensation.

Both sides said they would appeal the verdict.

The only defendant in court was Kay Kimsong, a reporter for The Cambodia Daily. The other defendants, Brian Mockenhaupt, 26, and Gina Chon, 25, left Cambodia two months ago and now live in South Korea. The three-hour trial took place Tuesday.

Mockenhaupt was the paper's chief editor at the time the two articles were written in January.