Cambodia / Asia

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined eight local and regional organizations in calling on Cambodian authorities to release journalists Pheap Phara and Phon Sopheap and drop all charges against them. The two were detained on July 31 after reporting on a Cambodia-Thailand border dispute and later charged under Section 445 of the criminal code, which covers treason…

Editor’s Note: This alert has been amended to reflect that the journalists have been charged under Section 445 of the Cambodian criminal code. Bangkok, September 12, 2025—Cambodian authorities must immediately release journalists Pheap Phara and Phon Sopheap, drop all pending charges against them, and stop using anti-state laws to harass reporters, the Committee to Protect…

Bangkok, June 10, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes justice for Cambodian journalist Chhoeung Chheng, whose killer, Sy Loeuy, was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Siem Reap provincial court on May 28, according to multiple press reports. The ruling was made public June 5, the reports said. Described as a local farmer and…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined CamboJA and other partner organizations in a joint advocacy statement on May 22 urging Cambodia to free Ouk Mao, also known as Uk Mao, an environmental reporter with the local Intriplus News website. Plainclothes officers arrested Mao without a warrant on May 16. He is being held in pre-trial detention…

Bangkok, May 19, 2025—Cambodian authorities must immediately release Ouk Mao, an environmental reporter with the local Intriplus News, and drop any pending charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Plainclothes officers, who did not produce an arrest warrant, handcuffed Mao on Friday at his home in northeastern Stung Treng province and took…

The Committee to Protect Journalists and a group of Southeast Asian lawmakers have called for the “active engagement” of the regional bloc ASEAN in protecting press freedom and the formation of an inter-parliamentary alliance to safeguard media rights in the region, which includes some of the worst offenders of press freedom. As governments escalate efforts…

Bangkok, February 3, 2025—Cambodian immigration officials denied re-entry to Gerald Flynn, a journalist with multilingual environmental news outlet Mongabay who has covered Cambodia’s deforestation crisis, and forced him onto a flight back to Bangkok, Thailand, on January 5, according to a February 3 statement by the California-based outlet and Flynn, who spoke with CPJ. The…

Bangkok, February 3, 2025—Cambodia should release journalists Duong Akhara and Lay Socheat, both of whom have been arrested and detained for incitement after publishing a video allegedly showing a man being tortured in a cyberscam center, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Local S.A. TVHD Online’s Akhara and Cambodia Star Daily News 24/24’s Socheat…

Bangkok, December 9, 2024—Cambodian authorities must launch a thorough investigation and deliver swift justice to the killer of environmental journalist Chhoeung Chheng, who was shot on December 4 and died from his injuries over the weekend, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. “The wanton killing of journalist Chhoeung Chheng shows the grave danger environmental reporters face…

Bangkok, October 1, 2024—Cambodian authorities must release and drop criminal incitement charges against investigative journalist Mech Dara, who was arrested Monday by military police at an expressway toll booth near the coastal city of Sihanoukville, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. “Journalist Mech Dara’s arrest and detention shows just how far Cambodia’s government is willing to go to…