Steve Morrish
61A Main St, Mornington
Victoria 3931
Australia
18th Jan 2015
Dear Steve
As you know the
destruction of reputations by rumour, scuttlebutt and innuendo is rife in Cambodia. Combined with
the Chinese Whisper effect, amplified by the megaphone of blogs such as
Khmer440, these can soon become accepted as facts beyond dispute.
You have had first
hand experience of this at the hands of (the potty mouth, the poison pen of!)
Peter Hogan.
The best way to deal
with rumour, scuttlebutt and innuendo is head on. Find out if there is any
truth to it and, if not, try to expose those who have peddled it. This is not
easy given that most peddlers of defamatory nonsense do so anonymously!
The latest rumour to
reach my ears, one that I take with a huge grain of salt, is that
South East Asia Investigations into Social and
Humanitarian Activities (SISHA) SISHA is
now funded by the Cambodian Children’s Fund? If so, that makes Scott Neeson effectively
your boss?
If the rumour is not
true, now is the time to nip it in the bud.
My interest in this
rumour, should it prove to be true, needs to be placed in the context of
SISHA’S pursuit of David Fletcher in 2009 and 2010 for the alleged sexual abuse
of young girls and the role played by Scott Neeson.
The media release
below, dated 28th June 2010, makes clear that SISHA was actively
involved in a two year investigation into the activities of David Fletcher in
Cambodia.
As you will be aware,
Mr Fletcher was tried in absentia in Cambodia in 2011 and sentenced to 10 years
in jail for the rape of Yang Dany. Fletcher only learnt of the trial after it
had occurred. He was given no opportunity to present a defense in court. Even
if he had known in advance of the secret court hearing he would not have been
able to attend anyway as he was, at the time, incarcerated in a Thai prison
awaiting deportation to Cambodia. This
fact was known to the Cambodian authorities who decided, nonetheless, to hold a
trial that journalists were unable to attend and report on and from which the
pubic was barred.
Given the role that
you personally, and SISHA generally, played in his pursuit:
“Do you believe that Mr Fletcher’s 2011secret rape trial was conducted in accordance with
the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure?”
From the 28th
June 2010 SISHA press release:
“For the past two years…South East Asia
Investigations into Social and Humanitarian Activities (SISHA) and APLE have been investigating British national Mr. David
Fletcher for alleged sexual abuse of children in Cambodia.”
Given that Mr Fletcher has spent close to five
years in jail without having had the opportunity to present a defense in any
Cambodian court, without having even been interviewed by police or an
Investigating Judge, the following question arises:
“Did SISHA, in the course of
its investigations, find evidence that Mr Fletcher had been sexually abusing
children in Cambodia?”
If the answer to this question is ‘yes’ why had
Mr Fletcher not been arrested and charged, after two years of investigations by
SISHA and CEOP and before you issued the June 2010 press release?
“At the time of this press
release were SISHA and CEOP in possession of evidence pointing to Mr Fletcher’s
guilt?”
It certainly appears that SISHA and CEOP were
not. The wording of the press release makes it clear that it was issued on the
basis of what had been written in an article by Andrew Drummond published on 20th
June 2010. And where did Andrew Drummond get his information from? Let me quote
what Scott Neeson, of the Cambodian Children’s Fund, told Andrew Drummond:
“There is little doubt
Fletcher devotes his time to grooming young girls….The fact is these children
can be bought. It’s difficult to stop it. The British Embassy have been told
about Fletcher. Many organizations have files on him, but nothing has happened.
If you can get this guy sent packing you are doing a service to the children
here.”
SISHA used allegations made by Scott Neeson and Andrew
Drummond as justification for issuing a press release that essentially pre-judged
(and defamed) David Fletcher. The stage was set for an arrest in Thailand that
seemed appropriate to the allegations (both made and implied) that David
Fletcher was guilty of child sex abuse.
Trial by media and press release!
A week after Drummond’s article was published,
Fletcher was ‘sent packing’ - arrested in Thailand at the request of SISHA,
CEOP and the British Embassies of Cambodia and Thailand. Both Peter Hogan’s and
Scott Neeson’s wishes had been granted.
By late June 2010, with no evidence of any abuse
a week earlier (this is clear from Drummond’s article), SISHA was supporting
the proposition that Fletcher had raped Yang Dany 15 months earlier. As a
reading of court documents and Drummond’s article, make clear, just a week
earlier Yang Dany had described David Fletcher as her ‘fiance’, her ‘boyfriend’
and as a ‘good man’. It was only when she and her mother, Sekun, were told in
late June that they could receive $30,000 in compensation for Yang Dany’s
‘rape’ that any mention of having been raped in 2009 was made by Dany. Did not this sudden transposition from
‘fiance’ and ‘good man’ to ‘rapist’ in the course of one week strike you as
odd? Especially when it became clear that Kheang Sekun was asking for $30,000
in compensation!?
As you know, both Yang Dany and her mother subsequently
denied that any rapes took place.
SISHA published this 28th June 2010 press
release on the basis of an article that you must have known, given that you had
been investigating for two years, was factually incorrect (no evidence of child
sex abuse), on the basis of defamatory comments made by Scott Neeson and
scuttlebutt picked up by Andrew Drummond during his 3 day trip to Cambodia!
And where did Drummond get most of his ‘facts’ from?
Peter Hogan. Hogan, the then proprietor of Khmer440, boasted online of his desire to destroy David
Fletcher. On his blog on Wed 2nd
Oct 2013, at 3.33 pm, in celebration of David Fletcher’s recently announced
jail sentence, Hogan wrote:
“Cold drinks will most certainly be taken this evening
to toast Fletcher's first night in his new abode.
I recall that 4(!) years ago when Grandslam and myself
hatched our plan, we made a sequential list of desirable outcomes beginning
with getting his 'charity' closed then moving onto having his
shithole-in-the-wall bar closed, having him outed in the press (and fuck, did
we achieve that one!) etc etc.
Today, the last box on the sheet ('Fletch in Prey Sar')
was finally ticked off so I'll allow myself a few strong drinkies in
celebration and will be raising my glass to Grandslam back in the UK.
Having been defamed yourself by Peter Hogan,
Steve, and suffered both personally and professionally as a result, surely you
are able to put yourself in David Fletcher’s shoes and appreciate what it feels
like to be languishing in jail on the basis of a trail of so-called evidence –
scuttlebutt, rumour and innuendo - that leads back, via Neeson and Drummond, to
Hogan’s desire to see Fletcher in jail.
Unless you have evidence that was not, for some
reason, presented to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court during David Fletcher’s
secret 2011 trial (I have the entire court files) there is no evidence other
than the testimony of Yang Dany that he raped her 15 months before she had told
Andrew Drummond, yourself and CEOP that he was a ‘good man’.
As you will be aware, and have been aware for a
long time, Yang Dany’s hymen was declared by a doctor’s report to be intact. Yang Dany was a virgin in
September 2010 despite two ‘brutal rapes’ in March 2009!
Even if Yang Dany had not confessed, had not
insisted that no rapes took place (as she has) surely, as an investigator into
sexual abuse, the intact hymen of an alleged rape victim must have set alarm
bells ringing? Shouldn’t such evidence (the doctor’s Sept 2010 report to the
court), at the very least, be tested in a properly constituted court of law in
which Fletcher is able to challenge the judges assertion that Yang Dany’s apparent
virginity must result from her hymen having gown back?
As you know, David Fletcher has never had an
opportunity to present a defense of any kind in any court. More questions:
“Have you, as head of SISHA,
at any time in the past four and a half years, advocated on behalf of David
Fletcher that he be entitled to a fair trial?”
“Would you be prepared, in
January 2015, to state in public that you believe Mr Fletcher is entitled to a
trial in which he is able to present a defense?”
In your press release you write:
“South East Asia Investigations into Social and
Humanitarian Activities (SISHA), is continuing its investigation into the allegations against
Fletcher and asks that members of the community who have information regarding
Fletcher and his alleged criminal activity or have been potential victims of
his abuse, to please contact SISHA.”
More questions:
“Did
you receive any further information or evidence of criminal activity on Mr
Fletcher’s part from ‘potential victims’ or anyone else?”
“What
do you mean by ‘potential victims’?”
If it is true that SISHA is now funded by Scott
Neeson, questions arise:
“Why
does Scott Neeson, already running one investigative Child Protection Unit (run
by former cops, one with a criminal record) want to fund a separate
investigative unit that performs the same task?”
“Is
it because Scott wants to take sole control, in Cambodia, of investigations into the sexual abuse of
children by foreigners?”
If, as seems to be the case, Scott wishes the
CCF’s Child Protection Unit to be Cambodia’s # 1 sex crime investigator, he has
a cashed-up competitor in Action Pour les Enfants – an NGO also determined, it
seems, to be # 1 NGO in the sex crime investigation business.
It will be interesting to see which of these two
NGOs (one run by a Frenchman, Thierry Darnaudet) and the other by an Australian
(Scott Neeson) wins the turf battle to control investigations into sex abuse in
Cambodia! (These investigations should, I suggest, be carried out 100% by
Cambodian authorities. Policing should not be outsourced to NGOs!)
In order for either APLE or CCF’ s CPU to become #
1 they will have to outdo each other in the number of arrests and convictions
they secure! Even if APLE and the CPU come to some kind of turf agreement, both
will still be dependent (the law of supply and demand operates here) on a
constant stream of arrests and prosecutions to keep money flowing into their respective
coffers.
Finally, let me ask you a question that I have
asked of Scott Neeeson, Samleang Seila and Dr Kek Pung, President of LICADHO –
none of whom wish to answer. Some context:
It is clearly
imperative, on both legal and human rights grounds, that children should not
neither coached nor coerced by NGOs into giving false testimony – especially if
this means being removed from their families and held in NGO captivity until
they play along by NGOs intent on securing a conviction. And, of course, nor
should men such as David Fletcher be convicted as a result of the false
testimony of children who have been coached and coerced.
“Would you agree, does SISHA
agree, that protocols and procedures
need to be set in place such that all children interviewed in the course of an
investigation only need to do so once; that all such interviews with children
be videotaped in the presence of trained professionals; that these trained
professionals should not be in the employ of any NGO that has a vested interest
in the outcome of whatever trial may ensue as a result of the children’s
testimonies being used as evidence?
I
will add here, lest the point has not been made clearly enough, the reason why
interviews should not be conducted by those with a vested interest in the
outcome of any criminal proceeding that may arise from them.
APLE,
CCF’s CPU, SISHA, CEOP and all NGOs whose income is dependent on the successful
prosecution of sex offenders should not even be confronted by the temptation to
encourage children to provide false testimony in videotaped interviews –
especially if, as should be the case, these occur once only. Without
appropriate protocols and procedures in place the implementation of once-only
videotaped interviews, controlled by unscrupulous NGOs, could make matters
worse rather than better for men unjustly accused of sex crimes.
It
seems to me that the implementation of the right protocols and procedures
surrounding videotaped interviews would go some way towards resolving an
ongoing dilemma in cases of alleged child sex abuse:
“Have the children and their
families been coached, coerced and offered financial inducements to secure
convictions. Have men accused of sex crimes coached, coerced and offered
financial inducements to children and their families to deny that any abuse
took place.”
As
I mentioned at the outset, the rumour about SISHA being funded now by Scott
Neeson may not be true. If so, let it be put to rest. Regardless, I trust that
you will answer the questions I have asked here in relation to SISHA’S
involvement in the investigation into David Fletcher and the role SISHA played
in arranging to to have him arrested in Thailand in June 2010.
I
look forward to your response, Steve.
best
wishes
James
Ricketson
David FletcherFollowing on from last weeks article by the British press, EAS has recently received this press release from SISHA requesting a Call to the Public for information
For the past two years, the British Police Child Exploitation and Online Protection team (CEOP), in cooperation with the Cambodia National Police and NGO’s South East Asia Investigations into Social and Humanitarian Activities (SISHA) and APLE have been investigating British national Mr. David Fletcher for alleged sexual abuse of children in Cambodia.
On Wednesday the 23rd of June 2010, media articles were published in Cambodia and other countries which alleged that Mr. David Fletcher, a British national living in Phnom Penh, was running a not-for-profit organisation which provided food and medical services to children living in the Stung Meancheay dump site in Phnom Penh. The media articles further alleged that Fletcher was sexually abusing young children living at the dump site.
On Friday 25th of June 2010, as a result of media articles published, Fletcher fled Cambodia and travelled across land into Thailand.
The British Police Child Exploitation and Online Protection team (CEOP), in cooperation with the Royal Thai Police and NGO - South East Asia Investigations into Social and Humanitarian Activities (SISHA), acting on information provided by concerned citizens living in Cambodia, located Fletcher at a guest house in Bangkok.
On Sunday 27th June, Fletcher was arrested at the guest house by Royal Thai Police for immigration offences, specifically failing to notify the Thai immigration authorities of his previous criminal convictions in the UK. Fletcher is currently in a Thai immigration detention centre awaiting a decision from the Thai authorities regarding deportation.
Call to the Public
South East Asia Investigations into Social and Humanitarian Activities (SISHA), is continuing its investigation into the allegations against Fletcher and asks that members of the community who have information regarding Fletcher and his alleged criminal activity or have been potential victims of his abuse, to please contact SISHA on email investigations[at]sisha.org or by telephone 017 382 877.
Ricketson - you are simply a fuckwit. What drugs are you smoking. Now you are accusing Morrish of conspiracy with NGO's and people he doesn't like. And before you go off on a tantrum, yes, I am a very good friend of Morrish and often speak to him. What fucking rubbish you write saying that SISHA is owned by CCF and Neeson is his boss. Do you sit in your lonely cave at nighttime and just think up rubbish that has no base, just so you can keep your blog going?
ReplyDeleteYou are a sad individual Ricketson and the great thing is that the more bullshit you write, the more people see you for what you are. A washed up fool, clinging onto the hope that your blogs will re-ignite your sad little life.
Pathetic!
For many years NGOs have enjoyed absolute impunity in Cambodia. But times have changes!
DeleteToday, it's no longer sufficient to just place pictures of you hugging children on your website.
Donors and journalist are starting to ask inevitable questions and are demanding transparency and accountability.
Many NGOs are not used to such questions and are obviously having great difficulty answering them, even questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no.
Answering questions by saying "It's all bullshit" is just not sufficient as an answer to the questions asked.
Ricketson seems to hope that making the same accusations a thousand times will somehow make them less ridiculous. It's the same bizarre accusations over and over and over, seeing conspiracies everywhere he looks.
ReplyDeleteYes his conspiracies are starting to resemble a person hallucinating from constant drug abuse. Now Vietnam are blocking his blog - and of course Neeson, APLE and Licahdo must of had a chat to the Prime Minister of Vietnam and together they have conspired against Ricketson.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen a psych doctor Ricketson?
Dear Anonymous (Scott!)
ReplyDeleteAre you able to read what I write, without imposing your own spin on what I write?
Where do I accuse Steve of anything? Please quote me my words?
I like Steve and think that he has been hard done by by Peter Hogan. However, I also, as an independent journalist trying to get answers to questions that I am entitled to ask Steve.
If SISHA had any evidence at all that David Fletcher raped Yang Dany; if Steve has evidence that would stand up in a properly constituted court of law, if David Fletcher were to be found guilty on the basis of such evidence, as opposed to scuttlebutt, I would have no problem with this and would applaud his jail sentence.
If SISHA is not now funded by Scott Neeson, all Steve needs to do is say/write "No, SISHA is not funded by CCF."
Simple.
I actually find the rumour that SISHA is now funded by by CCF hard to believe but when it coms to me from a variety of sources I am duty bound, as a journalist, to ask if it is true.
As for my being on drugs, sorry to disappoint you Scott. No drugs involved here. And the same applies for my 'lonely cave'.
Much as you may hate the proposition, Scott, a journalist's job is to ask questions. And this is what I am doing here. If Steve, SISHA, has evidence that David Fletcher raped Yang Dany, and iff this evidence withstands cross-examination and results in his being found guilty, so be it.
However, Mr Fletcher has never been allowed, in any court, to present evidence in support of his innocence. And this is all I have been advocating these past fw months .
You, on the other hand, believe that your friendship with Steve Morrish provides him with the right not to be transparent and accountable when it comes to SISHA'S evidence that Mr Flethdr read Yang Dany.
Why don't you sign this with our own name, Scott? Your style, your tone (the DNA of which shines through your 'anonymous' posts') makes it quite apparent who you are. Have the balls to come out and challenge me in public, on the basis of facts, and not through childish insult of the kind you indulge in here. Come out and write, with your name attached, "CCF is not funding SISHA." Simple, Scott. I, for one, will believe you because the option that Steve Morrish and James Mc Cabe could work on the same team is too outlandish to accept as a proposition.
with best wishes from
a sad individual, a washed up fool trying to ignore my sad little life.
I will now go in search of a box of Kleenex tissues, scripted somewhere in my sad little cave!
Oh dear, int her process of writing my response above to Scott he has written more comments!
ReplyDeletePoint out to me, Scott, one 'conspiracy theory' I have presented here on my blog? This is a case of projection on your part.
I have no idea whether or not it is true that my blog has been blocked in Vietnam. I asked if anyone knew whether it had been or not. I have only one comment, to date, that it has been. Perhaps it has not. Again I ask, "If anyone knows the answer to my question, please let me know."
Scott, I am a write by profession. It is not that difficult for me to identify the tone and style of certain comments and figure out, with some accuracy, where they come from. Your signature word (one of a few) is 'laughable'. When you use this, especially when you then delete your comment, I know that it is you writing.
Scott, it is OK to come out of the closet and sign your name to your anonymous comments. Shoot me down with facts, not childish insults.
The fact that you think Scott even reads this blog shows how far off the mark you are (yes, "laughable" even). It isn't possible for him to have written the above.
ReplyDeleteMr. Ricketson - what I am puzzled by is this constant reference you make that as a journalist you are obligated to ask questions. Who do you think you are? You have no legal right to gold dig for answers to questions that you make up simply because you are trying to generate an emotional response, of which you will use to continue your blogs. And people you defame during your witch hunts have no obligation to answer anything you ask. I think you have totally lost sight of what you are obligated to and what rights you have.
ReplyDeleteYour witch hunts are highlighted by the number of different people you have written blogs about and defamed - including but not limited to respected members of British Parliament, Australian media agencies, respected CEO's of established companies, Embassies and the list goes on. If you were a credible journalist then you would behave like one and apply the rules of integrity and ethics that are expected of a journalist. Im afraid that you don't display these qualities.
Please answer me this - Why does anyone have to answer your questions? What legal right do you have to fabricate rumours to generate your questions and what legal obligation does anyone have to answer your questions?
I will answer it for you - you have no legal right and people have no obligation, no matter what you think, to answer your defaming questions.
Dear Anonymous
DeleteYou ask me "Why does anyone have to answer your questions?"and then answer on my behalf! Might I be so bold as to answer your question on my own behalf.
It is in the nature of investigative journalism, and has been for some centuries now, to ask questions in a quest to seek the truth.The same applies for documentary filmmakers. I am both of these. It is my job description. You might just as well ask a doctor, "What right do you have to ask questions or a patient" or, perhaps a better example, to ask of a member of an opposition part in in government, "What right do you have to ask questions of members of the government?"
You may remember Watergate - to use a well known example of journalists asking questions that no-one wanted to answer. After a few years of asking questions, seeking out facts, challenging official versions of what had transpired, Woodward and Bernstein eventually exposed a web of lies and deceit that went right through to Nixon's White House. Along the way they encountered plenty of people, like yourself, who did not believe that they had a right to be asking the questions they were. They encountered plenty of people who, like you, wanted to stop them asking questions and employed a variety of techniques to do so. This is par for the course. Those in positions of power do not like tone challenged, do not like to be asked questions that they do not wish to answer.
Let me approach this question of questions in a different way. If a particular question requires merely a 'yes' or 'no' answer why not simply provide a 'yes' or a 'no' answer? In this instance, knowing a little of the history of Steve Morrisw and James Mc Cabe, I find it very difficult to believe that they would (or could) work on the same team. However, I am also aware of the way in which necessity gives rise to alliances that had, hitherto, seemed unlikely or impossible.
So, all Steve needs to do is say, "James, SISHA is not being funded by CCF." I would have no reason to disbelieve such a statement.
The same goes for the other questions I have asked Steve. He could respond with, "Yes, SISHA has strong evidence of David Fletcher's guilt and would welcome an opportunity to present it in court."
And so on.
Working on the presumption that you are a man, would you not want someone asking questions on your behalf if you had been convicted, in absentia, for a crime you insist you did not commit? Why should I not do the same for David Fletcher or any other person (yourself included) who appealed for my help?
So, to finish answering the question you asked of my and which you so kindly answered on my behalf, no, those to whom I ask questions are under no legal obligation to answer them. And in their not answering them it is up to readers, viewers, to figure out for themselves why it is that simple questions go unanswered.
Finally, a question asked in a particular context is not defamatory. All my questions have been asked in the context of trying to secure for Mr Fletcher a fair trial.
Ricketson, your blogs are always good for a few laughs. Yes, you are laughable, laughable, laughable (this means I am Scott Neeson as only he uses this word!). Most laughable is your sense of self-importance. You are not and have never been a journalist; you're a "professional writer" and with superior intellect that "It is not that difficult for me to identify the tone and style of certain comments and figure out, with some accuracy, where they come from. I am able to discern who wrote what". You giant tosser! Why would anyone with a real life lower himself to read your shite - an ageing twat who, without a single accomplishment, takes to tearing down those who give their lives to do good. LAUGHABLE!
DeleteAll these comments sound like a resurrection of Peter Hogan which was always happy to send his assassination gang against anyone of different opinion than himself. Thank's god he's gone. The khmer440 trash is still there. Your analysis Mr. Ricketson, of who comments is fairly easy once you have followed the threads on khmer440.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious that some of the not so anonymous commentators are in one or another way associated with the NGO Childprotection Industry. Perhaps they are scared to loose their meager existence once their NGO closes down.
Regarding Steve Morrish (has he ever opened his private security business in myanmar ?) every single word is too much. We all know what a character he is (turning up at Garage Bar to hold some khmer440 scumbags hostage for a few hours and threaten them)
It's a matter of time until the rest of the world including the Media and Embassies will acknowledge what a circus we have running here. Don't these people have anything better to do than plucking up Khmer Children from (the sooo dangerous) roads and incarcarate them in order to use them in their Anti-Pedo Business ?
The British Embassy and Administration in Britain and it's sheer demonstration of ARROGANCE leaves me speachless. What happened to this Country. It's now even worse than the US.
James, a problem you have here is that as a fair and honest man yourself, you expect that others will similarly be fair and honest. The I'm OK, your OK syndrome. Unfortunately what you are dealing with is liars, crooks, and cowards. Those who profit from taxpayers, well intention-ed donors and hack journalists. The human rights organizations that do not stand up for human rights. Neeson's business appears to one of taking children to reap donations while breaking up families and telling the world what a great job he is doing. His CPU employes a convicted felon rumored to have met his current wife in a seedy bar when she was 16 years old. APLE, enough said, but the worst of the worst. . British FCO, liars, cheats and not so good cover up artists. A Cambodian judiciary with supposedly educated people, who be believe that woman's hymen can grow back. An apathetic press that has no regard for the truth or interest in getting readers real stories. Drummond, a tabloid journalist who published first and doesn't check his 'facts'. An expat community that reads this blog through the bottom of a beer mug, more interested in defaming you than stating one fact to dispute your findings.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing an amazing job and I hope you can continue until the International Press realizes what is going on here. Your work will make a much better Cambodia.
Tom Selig - have you heard of the word retarded? - because that is exactly what your comments above are. Why bring up Peter Hogan - the guy is dead and has no bearing on any of this now.
ReplyDeleteAnd how is it that the anonymous comments are connected to the Child protection groups - why would you think any of them bother to read the rubbish that is posted here or even bother to respond?
And what has steve morrish's private company got to do with this? If you bothered to check his website, you would find it isn't a security company, it is a risk management company. And just to add weight to your stale piss and jealous blurb, Morrish's company represents some very large corporations in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar and from what I know through my contacts is that he is doing very well. Hopefully he is sitting back and laughing at the likes of you and the other low life losers that continue to write bullshit about him. As for holding the garage bar people hostage - a load of made up bullshit rubbish that Hogan and Khmer440 generated. And to make it even more laughable, was that not one of them had the balls to go and front Morrish - why? because they had as much spine as you do.
And to finish off - if you think Cambodia is worse that the USA, then do us all a favour and fuck off back to the hole you crawled out from.
You are a pathetic germ!
Pathetic is that some individuals seem to feel personally attacked by a few simple questions from a journalist.
DeleteIt's almost as if some questions are highly inconvenient for certain people.
The more reason to keep asking more questions!
"A few simple questions"?? Are you fucking serious????
DeleteThis is YEARS of harassment, hundred of posts just full of ridiculous accusations.
This is a callous, calculated, long-term attack from a man with a history of mental instability, who is known for being a serial pest and harassing organisations and there staff if he doesn't agree with them.
Why should people answer this guys questions? He has new, more bizarre questions every day. Why should anyone respond?
A journalist would never behave in this way. Ricketson is not fit to be called a journalist, and it is certainly not his 'profession' (which gives the impression someone would actually pay him for this)?
Hi! You must be one of them people that feels personally attacked when people just ask a couple of simple questions.
DeleteSimple questions indeed! Such as whether you believe that a girls hymen can grow back after being brutally raped!
Questions as simple as that! Just answer a simple yes or no will do.
Anonymous January 19, 6.53pm. - if you are so praising of Mr. Ricketson's blogs and believe he is right, and you are so righteous in your criticisms of NGO's you mention above - then put your name to your post. But like others, you won't, because you are empowered through anonymity and would not dare criticise these groups using your own name because there is a fair chance you are known to them or more plausible, leach off the benefits that they provide you. And judging by your comments and clear truthful facts, you certainly must be employed by one of the NGO's or perhaps were an employee and was sacked.
ReplyDeleteYou have the audacity to state that they are cowards when you yourself express the pinnacle of cowardice.
Dear Anonymous January 19, 6.53pm
DeleteLike the person you criticise you have not put your name to what you have written so it seems inappropriate that you take the high moral ground here.
I wish that everyone would put their names to what they write and thereby take responsibility for their opinions. This is not the way of the world, however.
More important than whether or not comments are posted anonymously or with a name attached is the information contained in them. Are posts a contribution to a dialogue, a debate? Or are they merely intended to tear down someone else's ideas, observations, questions etc.?
You write, "If you are so praising of Mr Ricketson's blogs and believe he is right..."
I am curious to know what you think I think I am right about?
I began this blog, more by accident than design, in order to see if I could get some answers to questions. I found that nonie of those I asked questions of wanted to answer them. I did some research, however, and came up with what can best be described as 'facts'. The first of these, and the one that spurred me on to ask more questions, was the discovery that there was a court document written by a doctor declaring that Yang Dany was a virgin after her alleged rapes. This is not just some assertion I am making. it is there in the court document. So too is the judges' declaration that her hymen must have grown back. I am neither right nor wrong. I am merely stating a fact.
When I spoke with Yang Dany and her mother, Sekun, they both told me that no rapes had taken place. That they said this, as recorded on videotape (and witnessed by two other journalists), is a fact.
Now just because something is a fact does not mean that it cannot or should not be challenged. It should be. In a properly constituted court of law - as I have been advocating from the outset.
The same applies to the destruction of David Fletcher's passport by the British embassy in Thailand. This is a fact. It is a fact that is behind dispute. What is in dispute is whether the destruction of the passport was a 'mistake' or if it was a deliberate act on the part of someone who realised that it contained evidence that they did not want to see aired in court - namely that Fletcher was not in Cambodia at the time of the alleged rapes.
The question of what happened to Fletcher's passport can and should be added to the list of questions that need to be asked in court and answered in court. Again, there has ben no court case.
I could go on. You will be pleased to hear I will not.
I am not 'right' about anything. I have asked questions that require answers and, when these have not been forthcoming, have conjectured as to what might have occurred and why. When I have done so, when I do so, I am more often than not attacked - but never on the basis of facts, of evidence, of counter-argument. No, almost always the attack is personal.
In this particular discussion thread one of the key questions is: "Is SISHA now funded by the Cambodian Children's Fund?"
For reasons that anyone who has followed this blog will understand, this is a pertinent question - given both SISHA'S and Neeson's involvement in the pursuit of Fletcher in 2010.
If SISHA is funded by Neeson this ten becomes a fact, a small but perhaps important piece of the jig-saw puzzle I am trying to put together. If SISHA is not being funded by Neeson it is a red-herring. However, as a journalist you will not find out much if you don't ask questions. So I ask. And, for the most part, those to whom I put questions do not answer them. This in itself leads to further questions. And so it goes
cheers
James, to expect an honest response from most here is impossible. They do not have the balls to admit that Fletcher was railroaded and definitely deserves a fair trial. They could not face their friends in the bar after doing so. They are so devoid of character, they only have hate to spew. They are cowards to admit Fletcher deserves a fair trial. They are cowards because they fear the litigation that would follow Fletcher's release. You are 100% incorrect to state that I must have been sacked or was an employee of one of these NGO's. There you see how easy that was? Now why don't you tell me ONE assertion that I have made that is not correct?
ReplyDeleteMy support for James come as a result of his good works, his facts. He has uncovered gross malfeasance from NGO's, reporters, courts, the FCO and British Embassy, human rights organizations and the Cambodian press. I think you may be fearful of where this good work may go.
Ricketson’s MO is to harass organisations and humiliate their staff and supporters online. He has a long history of it - look at his banning from screen australia, or his 100+ blog posts against Global Development Group. For that reason, I will not be putting my name to this comment. I do not want this man aggressively trying to harass and humiliate me, as is his way.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous 12.26 am
DeleteIt is the job of journalists and documentary filmmakers (and always has been) to ask questions. You can call it 'harassment' if you like but your description of my job does not change its intent - to ry and get as close as possible to the truth of whatever the subject is being explored by the journalist/filmmaker.
As for the Global Development Group, this NGO funds the 'SHE Rescue Home' - run by an Australian-based church buy the name of Citipointe. Citipointe illegally removes children from their materially poor families. These are easily demonstrated facts. The Global Development Group is thus in breach of Cambodian law.
It does not bother me at all that you do not put your name to your comment. it is is the content of the comment that counts in any dialogue, discussion or debate; not your name.
As with others who criticise me you do not do so on the basis of facts. Liek so many others you feel it more appropriate to shoot the messenger rather than respond in any intelligent way to his/her message.
Well said anonymous above - Ricketson's MO is apparent. The great thing about these types of bloggers though is that they are like a bad case of the shits. Annoying for a period of time but eventually just gets flushed down the toilet with all the other germs and bacteria. Hogan died (1 down), Drummond has been convicted again and an arrest warrant for him has been issued and he has left Thailand (2 down), Ricketson next and then we can all get back to some normality.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete'Normality' for you might be that you can sit in your favorite bar bragging about how you had your part in putting a 'Notorious Pedophile' behind bars, while you're kissing your 16yr old girlfriend!
DeleteWell, these days are over my friend! Now it's time for accountability!
Dear Anonymous 12.42
DeleteYour tone and style of writing bear the DNA of the former Khmer400. As with so many others your modus operandi is to shoot the messenger.
I did nit know that Drummond had ben arrested again. Because he publishes stories that are not based on facts? Will google for an update.
That you include me in your list of people to be gotten rid of (including Hogan and Drummond) requires no comment. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence will read between the lines of your comment.
JR, Where are the brilliant minds that disagree with the 'facts' as you present them. Clearly if they don't dispute the facts, they must agree that David Fletcher deserves a fair trial!
ReplyDeleteYes, Anonymous 4.30, to date no-one has presented any argument at all in support of the proposition that David Fletcher does not deserve a fair trial. This right should apply to all in Cambodia - Khmer and non-Khmer like.
ReplyDeleteThe only voice raised against allowing Fletcher a fair trial was that of the APLE lawyer in court in Nov 2014. She quite specifically requested of the judges that they not allow a 're-trial'. The judges, who had written their reasons for not allowing a 're-trial' before the hearing commenced, agreed with her.
Now why would APLE not wish for there to be a fair trial? The reason given by Samleang Seila was that Fletcher had not got his paper work to the court in time!
A 're-trial' would have proved embarrassing for Seila as APLE had already sent the star witness, Yang Dany, to China so that she could not be cross-examined.
I put 're-trial' in inverted commas because there has never been a trial carried out in accordance with even the bare minimum of adherence to the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure. The 'trial' was held in secret whilst Fletcher was in a Thai prison awaiting deportation.
I wonder how much money was spent by all these investigative bodies prior to Fletcher leaving Cambodia in June 2010?
It is difficult, when considering all the evidence that is available, not to entertain the possibility that after two years of investigations by SISHA, CEOP and APLE, with the assistance of the British embassies in Cambodia and Thailand, that they simply had to see Fletcher convicted or they would all have a lot of egg on their faces.
As with so many others this proposition could have been, and should have been, tested in court.
I am posting as anonymous since I don't want the criminal element posting on this blog to have my full name. I am Mary in the United States, and David Fletcher has been a family friend for over 30 years. I am amazed that certain people in Cambodia, who knew David for a period of four years, THOUGHT they knew him.
ReplyDeleteDavid, sometimes with his children or friends, visited our home many times over the years. He spent many Christmases and other holidays with me, my husband, our children and our grandchildren. We also visited him in his home and traveled with him in other countries. My family and many friends who met David all had the greatest respect for David as a kind and generous man.
Shortly before David moved to Cambodia, we enjoyed a three week vacation in Italy together. He kept talking about his visit to a dump and the impact of seeing the poor and hungry children there. He said he could not believe how many children he was able to feed for just $20. He said that he planned to help them as much as he could after he moved there.
After he moved there, he told me that other "charity" groups had expressed displeasure with his charity work because he and tourists bought food and went to the dump together so all money spent was used directly for the children and families there. He also said that he rented a truck for a small fee for the deliveries. He said that other "charity" personnel drove expensive vehicles. It is for these reasons the other "charities" apparently saw David as a threat to their funding and lavish lifestyles.
The rumor that David was grooming young girls is laughable. David has always liked children, which is admirable. For two or more years, David had a girlfriend who he had planned to marry. He told me that she went everywhere with him. I assume that included trips to the dump, because I recall his telling me once that it was her who had spotted a little boy there who could not walk. David contacted the American Embassy, which arranged for surgery so the little boy could walk for the first time. David had other girlfriends before and after the one he loved, so he had no "grooming" interest in the young children.
As for the ex-pat bar owners who defamed David on the local blog, David never gave me a reason for their hate. I believe they, too, considered David to be competition and were jealous. I don't know what their bars were like, but I seriously doubt that they were as nice as Bogie and Bacall. David sent me many photos of the bar, and I was impressed with the decor. He also sent me photos of plates of food, which looked so appealing. I know that David is an excellent cook because he cooked many meals for us in our home and his.
I could tell you much more about the "real" David, but I'm sure it would not complement your agenda. It is a shame that David has had to deal with the evil corruption in Phnom Penh. His desire had been to retire somewhere in the provinces because he loved the gentle Khmer people he had met there.
Thanks Mary
DeleteI have heard many such stories of David’s generosity towards families and never one story in and around Steung Meanchey that suggests he was anything other than a kind benefactor. Here is one, told to me by Fletcher, and verified by others:
"All the families know i am a soft touch when it comes to children in distress ( aren't we all, except maybe some plebeians I know!) I was giving out food one day when a mother kept coming up to me pushing in the line and pulling my arm and pointing to a hut, I said I come soon, in my pidgin English, as I was short handed that day I could not stop, but would soon be finished, then I would see what the mother wanted. She was not giving up, she went off and quickly returned with a little girl in her arms, she was about ten years old, remember here it is so hard to judge ages, they are much smaller developed than in the western world. She was about the same size as my daughter was when she was about six. The mother carried the little girl to me so that I would look at her. She was smiling at me , so was thankfully not in pain as far as I could tell. And when these children smile at me, I am sunk! She had metal pins inserted all the way down one leg, all connected to a vertical steel rod on the exterior, she had obviously been in a horrendous accident. The mother explained that a car had hit her, they also showed me some terrible scars over her tummy, it had been a bad one. I photographed her injuries for future reference for my kind volunteers that came to Phnom Penh especially to help me help the children. She was healing well, and she had obviously had some good treatment getting her back together, it was obviously not Khmer work, so it must have been one of the more dedicated NGOs, so it proves me wrong, there are now three out here of the 3200 NGO units in Cambodia that follow through! One of the good ones is based in Thailand, so that only leaves two that I know of based in Cambodia that walk the walk! Yes, I am being belligerent here. There are at least 5% of the NGOs that do some good work, wow! I went up to the truck, brought back loads of goodies for her, of course lots of food, and every trip I made to the dump after that I went to see her with a cream cake or something she would never get otherwise, it was not only the food, but the attention to a brave little girl that had suffered badly, she deserved everything I could give her.
Sadly this story has a very ugly ending, when the sleaze journalist Andrew Drummond found out about this little girl, he made it into a “oh this was one of Fletcher's little favorites, nudge nudge, wink wink,” moment - trying to make it all into a very unsavory agenda. The gutter press excels itself and reaches the depths of depravity to sell newspapers. But as far as I am concerned, I made that little girls days a little better, and there were many of them, if you can achieve making one of these children's day a little better, you have done something that child will always remember, and no better an epitaph!"
My response to this follows...
....
DeleteYang Dany and her mother Kheang Sekun told me similar stories. They spoke only of Fletcher’s kindness and generosity to all in the community.
I had to ask several times why, under these circumstances, why, if David was a 'good man' Sekun told the police, after Fletcher had left Cambodia, that he had raped Yang Dany.
Neither Skeun nor Dany wanted to answer this question but it eventually emerged that they were offered $30,000 in compensation if they charged Fletcher with rape.
They never did get the $30,000. Nor did they get the $5,000 that was promised later if they were to pursue with the charges. They got nothing.
It was in part because the financial inducements offered to them never materialized that they were prepared be interviewed by me. Despite their fear that they would be sent to jail for perjury they were prepared to tell the truth (no rapes occurred) in the forthcoming ‘re-trial’ in Nov 2014.
At this point APLE intervened and arranged for Yang Dany to be sent to China, arranged for the judges to refuse the ‘re-trial’ that they had promised Fletcher a few weeks earlier and, subsequently, have ‘arranged’ for Sekun to speak with no-one in the media to whom she might tell the truth.
Any intrepid journalist reading this, try to track down Kheang Sekun and you will find it close to impossible. If you succeed she will not speak with you – unless, that is, you can offer her more money to speak the truth than APLE is paying to her not to speak at all to anyone.
Sorry Mary, but paying a woman living on a garbage dump so that you can marry her underage daughter is what "grooming children" means.
DeleteDear Anonymous 6.19
DeleteBoth Dany and her mother Sekun deny that there was ever any talk of Fletcher wanting to marry Dany.
I realize that you may not want awkward things such as 'facts' stand in the way of a good story but consider the following. Yang Dany was born on 06 July 1992. On 20 th June 2010, at the time Yang Dany was referring to David Fletcher as her 'fiance' and a 'good man' she was just 2 or so weeks shy of being 18 years old.
Even if, despite Dany, Sekun's and Fletcher's denials that there was any talk of marriage, to use the expression 'grooming children' is precisely the sort of nonsense that the media picks up and passes on in a Chinese Whisper until it is accepted and responded to as fact.
Fletcher also states in the Drummond story - and he has bragged to me personally about the same - is that all his family have disowned him and "it's their loss". Sorry Mary - I think you are a phoney and one of Ricketson's handjob boys.
DeleteFletcher also states in the Drummond story - and he has bragged to me personally about the same - is that all his family have disowned him and "it's their loss". Sorry Mary - I think you are a phoney and one of Ricketson's handjob boys.
DeleteCan we take Morrish's inability to answer with either a 'yes' or a 'no' the question of whether he is working now for Scott Neeson as a 'yes'?
ReplyDeleteWhy would Morrish even be on here? You can't just send a question out on a backwater blog and demand an immediate response.
DeleteDear Anonymous 6.17
DeleteAN email was sent to Morrish by myself. He has not responded. I have been in quite regular communication with Steve and this is the first time he has not responded to an email from me.
I also happen to know that Steve reads my blog.
I do not expect an immediate response from Steve to a simple question but as the days pass without one readers of this blog can be forgiven for jumping to conclusions.
Great stories and from my 1st hand knowledge, the pieces that I was able to witness, to be 100% true. David helped these children without taking them from their families and genuinely looked out for their well being.
ReplyDeleteAll the evidence at my disposal (and I have more than anyone, including the Phnom Penh Municipal Court) suggests that a massive miscarriage of justice has occurred in the case of David Fletcher.
ReplyDeleteIt is not, of course, for me to determine whether David Fletcher is innocent or guilty of having raped Yang Dany. It is up to a properly constituted court whose judgement is not swayed by either intimidation or financial inducements.
Those who refuse to advocate on Mr Fletcher's right to a fair trial, in accordance with the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure, include:
The British Embassy in Cambodia
Senior members of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in the United Kingdom
UK Foreign Secretary, Mr Phillip Hammond
LICADHO
ADHOC
Steve Morrish and SISHA
CEOP
APLE
The Cambodia Daily
The Phnom Penh Post
Would it be too much to Cambodian Children''s Fund (Neeson), Khmer440 and Andrew Drummond? Especially since they are the ones that started the slander against Fletcher.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
ReplyDeleteEdmund Burke
Who cares about the rights and wrongs of this? Give David John Fletcher a fair trial with proper representation and then we should find out. Of course, in Cambodia, this is just whistling down the wind. Deport him back to the U.K. and conduct the trial over here. Q.E.D.
ReplyDeleteMore of the usual insane ramblings from Ricketson and his tiny team of equally retarded cohorts. All you bored, under-employed shit-heads expecting good NGO's, such as Neeson's, Licadho, SISHA, APLE etc, to respond to every dumb-fuck question that Ricketson thinks of when he wakes from his stupor?? Go get lives.
ReplyDeleteif these so called good guys had nothing to hide than answer the questions,i guess they think they are something special and dont need to answer direct questions.looking at this from the outside i think Ricketson has bigger balls than the rest put together
ReplyDelete