Front page of the last print edition of The Cambodia Daily on 4 September 2017.

Phnom Penh municipal court considered today a charge of “public defamation” brought against Deborah Krisher-Steel, publisher of the now defunct Cambodia Daily newspaper, but after a short hearing adjourned the case until a later date.

The charges were brought by the General Department of Taxation (GDT) following comments accusing the authority of disclosing confidential information about a massive tax bill levelled at the publication.

The newspaper closed its office in Cambodia and laid off staff on 4 September 2017, after receiving a disputed US$6.3 million tax bill.

Krisher-Steel was not present at the hearing. She was represented by her lawyer while a representative from GDT gave evidence as a civil plaintiff. Judge Seng Neang suspended the hearing to allow for the translation of key evidence into Khmer.

The trial will resume on 12 April 2018.