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An independent newspaper in Cambodia was shut down due to tax row.
The Cambodia Daily, one of the country’s last independent newspapers, is facing a lawsuit stating that it had not paid taxes for over 20 years. The lawsuit claims that despite operating for a very long time, the paper was only registered in the tax department last March 2017.
An American journalist established the Daily in 1993 as an independent news outlet free from government or corporate influences. Hun Sen [HOON SEHN], Cambodia’s Prime Minister since 1985, permitted the Daily to operate despite some stories disagreeing with his view.
Recently, however, the Cambodian government ordered the Daily to pay $6.3 million in taxes within 30 days, adding that the publication would have to close down if they failed to do so.
In response, The Cambodia Daily stopped operations before the 30-day deadline. It also released a statement, saying that publicizing the matter was unnecessary and that the issue could have been resolved through private negotiations. According to the government, despite the Daily’s closure, the tax department would still collect the taxes due.
Prior to the lawsuit against the Daily, the government arrested the leader of a major group that opposed the government. Because of this, some critics believe that shutting down the Daily, which often publishes news against the government, was also a political move. The Daily’s publisher, however, said that the government’s action did not have political reasons.
Despite this, an expert from Australia said that collecting back taxes was an indirect way to bring down entities opposing the government, adding that the technique has been used in countries like Venezuela, Hungary, and Russia.