14 DAY TRIAL // Recent news from Cambodia informs us that, after writing about the illegal logging activities taking place in this part of the world, one journalist was brutally beaten up by three assailants who didn't mind that they had to break into his home in order to attack him.
Apparently, the people behind this attack planned everything in detail, and even brought a pistol and a stick with them.
To make matters even worse, it has not been long since one other reporter who covered stories from this part of the world was found lifeless in the back of his truck.
Therefore, we can only assume that whatever people are in charge of the illegal timber market in Cambodia are not all that willing to give up on their working agenda in favor of environmental protection.
Mongabay informs us that it has been roughly a month since the man who suffered this attack published an article about illegal logging in this country, and that following the publication he received as many as three death threats.
The journalist explains that his articles did not target anyone in particular, which is why he was still having troubles understanding why it was that these three men felt the need to beat him up.
“I have never written of their case. I didn’t know the reason why they beat me because I always wrote stories favorable to authorities and am fearful now,” he told members of the press.
Although local authorities are now busy looking for the three men who attacked this journalist, it seems that such incidents are ever more frequent in Cambodia.
Thus, odds are that unless something is soon done to deal with the illegal timber market on a much larger scale, such run-ins will become a routine.
The need to end such illegal deforestation activities is made even more pressing by the fact that, throughout the past 20 years, Cambodia has lost roughly 22% of its forests.