PHNOM PENH, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- A court here Friday ordered a Chilean-born Australian author to pay 2,410 U.S. dollars as compensation for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for he was guilty of defaming him by saying that he used violence to mute his critics and opponents.

Julio Jeldres, famous as official biographer of former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, was also ordered by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to pay a fine of 1,928 U.S. dollars to the government, for he was quoted as saying on the April 7 edition of the Cambodian Daily that "As you know, every time Prime Minister Hun Sen makes a threat, someone gets killed or wounded by unknown gangsters."

The prime minister sued the author for his remarks. However, Jeldres was absent at the court when the verdict was passed.

He was not available for comments.

Jeldres founded the non-profit Khmer Institute of Democracy in Cambodia. He used to be a leading critic of the government. Enditem