Mam Sonando
| Mam Sonando | |
|---|---|
Mam Sonando in May 2013.
|
|
| Born |
February 13, 1942 Kampong Siem, Kampong Cham, Cambodia |
| Nationality | Cambodian, French |
| Occupation | Journalist Politician |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Organization | Beehive Radio |
| Known for | independent journalism; 2003, 2005, and 2012 arrests |
| Political party | Beehive Social Democratic Party (2015–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Den Phanara |
| Parent(s) | Mam Soth Eam Ouch |
Mam Sonando (Khmer: ម៉ម សូណង់ដូ; born February 13, 1942) is a Cambodian radio journalist and politician with French dual citizenship. He is the owner and director of Phnom Penh's Beehive Radio, which the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described in 2012 as "one of Cambodia's few independent news outlets". He also acts as a political commentator for the station.
Sonando has been imprisoned three times on charges related to his reporting: a 2003 arrest for "inciting riots", a 2005 arrest for defamation, and a 2012 arrest for insurrection. His twenty-year prison sentence for the latter was protested by human rights groups, and US President Barack Obama expressed concerns about the case in a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen. The sentence was overturned by an appeals court in March 2013, and Sonando was instead given a five-year suspended sentence on charges of causing civil unrest.
Mam Sonando was born on February 13, 1942 in a small district called Kampong Siem in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. His father, Mam Soth, was a lawyer. His mother Eam Ouch was born in Battambang province. Sonando traveled to Paris in 1964 for school. He attended the Vaugirard State Technical College of Photography and Cinematography, in Paris, France, from 1969 to 1970. In 1973, he received a bachelor's degree with major in sociology and cinematography and audio visuals, at the Paris XV University.
He left Cambodia again in 1975 to avoid the rule of the Khmer Rouge, remaining in France until 1993. That year, he returned to Cambodia and acquired a broadcasting license for a new station which he named Beehive Radio. He used the station to advertise a new political party, the Beehive Democratic Society Party, and stood in the 1998 parliamentary election. According to the Asia Times, his campaign only won him "a reputation as an eccentric, spouting Buddhist philosophy, pleas for democracy and a personal campaign for attention." After failing to be elected, Sonando dissolved his party, but continued broadcasting on Beehive Radio as an independent journalist.
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