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At least six Cambodian journalists have been detained, arrested, or charged with incitement between January and mid-February 2026 after reporting on border tensions and suspected online scam compounds, with two still held in pre-trial detention, according to local rights groups.
Luot Sophal, a reporter in Oddar Meanchey province, was arrested by military police on February 13, 2026, after reporting on February 7 that frontline troops were facing water shortages. After being questioned on the afternoon of February 14, the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Court ordered his temporary detention at the provincial prison on charges of “demoralizing the army and inciting the commission of crimes”.
The legal action occurred despite Sophal agreeing to a demand by the authorities to delete a video of Thai soldiers digging the ground and placing containers. He also publicly apologized in a video and admitted that his report was untrue while acknowledging wrongdoing.
Voeun Lalang, 38, Sophal’s wife appealed to the government to release her husband, who is being held at Oddar Meanchey Provincial Prison, saying that he only “intended to help people, not cause chaos or incite the army”. Having just returned home from a refugee camp, she stressed that her husband is the sole breadwinner of their family of four children.
“Please help my husband. He is the sole breadwinner. We have four children to feed. He doesn’t have any bad intentions. He did not expect to encounter something like this after publishing [the story],” said Lalang.
Prior to his detention, another journalist, Hem Vanna, was arrested by Poipet military police on February 3, 2026. According to local human rights groups, ADHOC and LICADHO, he was detained after reporting on a suspected online scam compound.
Vanna was charged by a provincial court with incitement to commit a felony under Article 495 and intercepting or recording private conversations under Article 301 of the Criminal Code. He is currently being held in pre-trial detention in Banteay Meanchey prison.
A day after publication, Vanna urged authorities not to threaten journalists, saying that they serve as “a mirror of society” connecting leaders and citizens. He added that officials should not attack reporters, reminding them of former prime minister Hun Sen’s words that journalists should not be treated as enemies when reporting the truth.
Khun Dim, 65, a colleague of Vanna, told CamboJA News that the latter was arrested without a warrant. Dim said if the report was inaccurate, authorities should have allowed him to correct it rather than arrest him.
“This is a disservice to journalists. They [authority] did not use the press law, instead they just dropped incitement charges on journalists,” Dim said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Cults and Religion detained a photographer working with Buddhist newspaper BC News in Kandal province for nearly six hours on February 9 after he published an article about a religious program. He was released after his publication deleted the article.
Two days later, journalist Mech Dara, known for his investigative reporting into the online scam industry in Cambodia, was briefly detained by military police in Koh Kong after photographing a mass raid in the Dara Sakor area targeting suspected scam compounds.
It was followed by the arrest of PenhChit Media editor Prom Sophay and Sunday News publisher Seang Bunsong in Takeo province on February 12, but were released the next day.
Ministry of Information spokesperson Tep Asnarith said they are reviewing Sophal and Vanna’s cases and may provide legal support where appropriate, stressing that press freedom is constitutionally protected but journalists can still face legal liability if laws are violated. He added that several individuals involved are “not related to journalist’s works and have no data in the ministry” and urged transparency, fairness, and cooperation with authorities.
“I welcome cases where journalists have returned home and resumed their work and thank the authorities. However, for the remaining cases involving journalists with press cards, I urge the relevant authorities to please prioritize [them] and ensure transparency and fairness in accordance with the law,” he said. He also calls on journalists to share information to support efforts to combat technology-enabled fraud.
Nop Vy, executive director of Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, lamented that the use of the Criminal Code on journalists is not right because journalists do not commit crimes for their own benefit, they work to serve public interest.
“They are serving public interest and protecting it. They should not have the Criminal Code be used against their work,” said Nop Vy.
Am Sam Ath, operational director at Licadho, pointed out that from early January to mid-February, six journalists had been arrested and detained on criminal charges for their work. While the government is working to combat online crime, he urged that alleged mistakes by journalists should be dealt with under the press law, not through detention.
“If we look at the space for press freedom, it seems to be shrinking, especially since Cambodia has a press law, but they don’t seem to prioritize using this law for journalists,” Sam Ath said.
More than 30 individuals including opposition figures, activists, and journalists were arrested between July 2025 and February 2026 over social media posts related to Cambodia’s border clashes with Thailand, which broke out in July and flared again in December before a ceasefire was reached.
Cambodia ranked among the world’s lowest-performing countries in a global rule of law index last year, scoring 161 out of 181 countries in the 2025 press freedom index. The government has repeatedly criticized critical reports from international rights groups as biased.
