Award-winning journalist who exposed cyber fraud is arrested

Mech Dara, an award-winning Cambodian journalist who has reported extensively on human trafficking and corruption, was arrested and charged with incitement.

Dara, who reported for the BBC, was charged with five social media posts that could “incite social unrest”, a court spokesman said. He faces up to two years in prison.

Last year, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken honored him for his work uncovering online fraud operations based in Cambodia.

Human rights groups have spoken out about his arrest, while the US Embassy in Cambodia said it was “deeply disturbed” by the news.

Dara was arrested after she was stopped at a highway toll booth on the border between Koh Kong and Sihanouk province in southwest Cambodia on Monday.

A relative who was in the car with Dara told the BBC that they were waiting to go through the cabin when a military police car, accompanied by five other cars, pulled up next to them.

“We caught him,” one said as they arrested Dara, his relative said, adding that Dara told his family not to worry as he was taken away.

Local human rights group Licadho reported that Dara sent them a message saying he had been arrested before his phone was taken away.

His whereabouts were then unknown for almost 24 hours as he appeared in court in the capital Phnom Penh and was charged with incitement to commit a crime. He was remanded in custody and faces between six months and two years in prison if found guilty.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Y Rin told the BBC that the allegations were related to five social media posts made in September, but did not elaborate.

In a statement, the court said the Facebook posts showed “edited images” of a “tourist attraction” that it said were “fake.”

It said the posts were “full of evil intentions – inciting and angering the public, aimed at making people think badly of the government.”

The vague accusation of sedition is often leveled against government critics in Cambodia.

One of Dara's relatives, who also works as a journalist but requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said Dara had been denied access to a lawyer and they were “so worried” about his safety.

“The authorities have not provided us with an official arrest warrant or court documents. I have lost hope, I am now very worried about practicing journalism in Cambodia,” said the relative.

Mech Dara, one of Cambodia's most prominent journalists, has been at the forefront of investigating the country's cyber-scamming dens, which primarily employ human trafficking workers.

Victims are often lured by advertisements that promise easy work and extravagant benefits. Once they arrive in the country, they are held captive and forced to work in online fraud centers. Anyone who does not adhere to this is faced with threats to their safety. Many were subjected to torture and inhumane treatment.

Last year, Mr. Blinken awarded Dara the U.S. State Department Human Trafficking Hero Award for his work.

The US State Department said it was aware of the reports of his arrest and was “following developments closely and with great concern.”

The US Embassy in Phnom Penh said it was “deeply disturbed” by Dara’s arrest and called for his release. She called him a “leading voice against human trafficking and online fraud.”

Last month, the US imposed sanctions on powerful Cambodian tycoon and ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat – nicknamed the “King of Koh Kong” for his influence in his home province – over alleged ties to the cyber fraud industry.

The Cambodian government said the sanctions were politically motivated.

Human rights groups have expressed concern over Mech Dara's arrest.

Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Mech Dara is a respected journalist who has reported on important public interest issues such as online fraud hubs. Yet Cambodian authorities appear to have wrongly arrested him yesterday.

“You should release him immediately.”

Phil Robertson, director of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates (AHRLA), called Dara's arrest “outrageous and unacceptable” and “is emblematic of the Cambodian government's repressive, over-the-top response to any kind of criticism from the media.”

Cambodia's independent media landscape has been hit hard in recent years, as publications such as Camamboda Daily and Voice of Democracy, both of which Dara worked for, were shut down by authorities.