Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith yesterday unveiled a new location for a monument to journalists killed during Cambodia’s civil war from 1970-75. The memorial was originally built near the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in 2013, but the area has since been made into a Thai-Cambodia friendship park.

The names of the 37 foreign and local journalists who were killed during the conflict between the Lon Nol government and the eventually victorious Khmer Rouge are inscribed on the monument. ‘We built it near the [Raffles] Hotel Le Royal because the Ministry of Propaganda used to be nearby,’ Kanharith said, adding that the memorial deserved its own space.

The new location will be adjacent to the French Embassy, where many journalists, both foreign and Cambodian, were headquartered during that time. ‘We hope that the new place here will have more space for people to attend every May 3 to celebrate press freedom,’ Kanharith added.