Environmental journalist Ouk Mao’s arrest on May 7 in Sihanoukville has elicited a call from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) for his immediate release. The journalist was allegedly detained by plainclothes officers without an arrest warrant, unspecified reasons surrounding his detention, and taken to an undisclosed location. Mao, who is reported to be under detention at the Stung Treng Provincial Gendarmerie Headquarters, was covering illegal deforestation and land grabs in the Stung Treng province at the time of his arrest, according to CPJ.
Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative, urged Cambodian authorities to cease considering environmental reporters as criminals. This incident raises concerns over the ongoing pattern of intimidation against journalists engaged in reporting environmental degradation linked to government-endorsed projects. As noted by Reporters Without Borders, this action forms part of a broader trend against media freedom in Cambodia.
Mao’s record shows previous legal troubles and physical violence due to his reporting activities on issues such as illegal logging and land seizures involving entities connected to Cambodian authorities, as brought forward by Mongabay. These incidents align with an environment in Cambodia that consistently poses hardships for independent journalism. The country ranked 161st in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, reflecting press freedom concerns encompassing harassment and prosecution of journalists.
Such dynamics are not isolated. Three environmental reporters affiliated with Mother Nature Cambodia experienced imprisonment in 2021, while additional incidents in 2024 included arrests and the murder of environmental journalists as detailed by Mongabay and JURIST. The landscape indicates systematic barriers to reporting on topics deemed sensitive by Cambodian authorities.