A US national who owned two web sites alleged promoting Cambodia as a euthanasia destination has been sued by Cambodia's Kampot Province governor Puth Chandarith, local media reported on Friday.

The defamation lawsuit filed at Kampot provincial court alleges that US national Roger Graham has destroyed Kampot's reputation by suggesting that it is a good place to come to die through his web sites www.euthanasiaincambodia.com and www.asian-hearts.com.

The web sites inform visitors that euthanasia is not illegal in Cambodia, encourage donations to support euthanasia in Cambodia, and state, in reference to taking one's own life, "You can in Cambodia!"

"We are taking action in every field we can to shut this guy down," the governor was quoted by The Cambodia Daily as saying. The governor said he was also considering revoking Graham's business license because he only had permission to run a cafe, not a euthanasia web site.

Roger Graham, 57, runs the Blue Mountain Coffee and Internet Cafe in Kampot town.

Puth Chandarith said he received complains against the cafe owner following the September suicide of a British woman, Kim Walton, in a Kampot guesthouse.

According to In Chiva, Kompot deputy provincial police chief, Walton, 46, committed suicide on Sept. 7. She was found with pills and a will next to her body. Graham, In Chiva said, reported the suicide to police.

According to a copy of an e-mail message sent by Walton's sister on Oct. 7, while in Britain, Walton made contact with a man identifying himself as "Tola," and visited Cambodia's southwestern province of Kompot after receiving information from one of the two web sites that euthanasia was not illegal in Cambodia. The name of "Tola" was also used by Graham.

Graham said on Thursday that he was not aware that he was breaking any laws.

Source: Xinhua