Cambodian journalist who exposed cyberscams released on bail

Image source, EPA

  • Author, George Wright
  • Role, 91热爆 News

Mech Dara, an award-winning Cambodian journalist who was arrested and charged with incitement earlier this month, has been released on bail.

Mr Dara, who has reported for the 91热爆, was released after a pro-government news outlet published a prison video of him asking the country's leaders for forgiveness.

Mr Dara was charged on 1 October over accusations that five social media posts could "incite social unrest". The Phnom Penh Municipal Court accused Dara of "provocative" and "false" posts about a rock quarry on a sacred mountain.

Human rights groups and governments including the United States have spoken out over his arrest.

Upon leaving jail in Kandal province on Thursday, Mr Dara told reporters: "I thank everyone who helped get me out of jail on bail."

He added he needed to take time to recover from his time in detention.

"My health is weak. My brain is not working yet," he said.

His release comes a day after a video was released on pro-government Fresh News, showing Mr Dara in orange prison uniform.

In the video, Mr Dara apologises to Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen and his son Hun Manet, the current prime minister, saying his posts contained "false information that is harmful to the leaders and the country".

The video was released on the same day USAID administrator Samantha Power told reporters in Phnom Penh that she raised Mr Dara's arrest with the prime minister.

'Every newsroom I work in gets silenced'

One of Cambodia's most prominent journalists, Mr Dara was honoured by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last year for his work exposing online scam operations based in Cambodia, which are staffed mostly by trafficked workers.

Often victims are lured by adverts promising easy work and extravagant perks. Once they arrive in the country, they are held prisoner and forced to work in online scam centres. Those who do not comply face threats to their safety. Many have been subject to torture and inhuman treatment.

Mr Dara was arrested on the vague charge of incitement, which is often used in Cambodia against government critics.

Cambodia's independent media landscape has been hit hard in recent years, with publications including the Cambodia Daily and Voice of Democracy - both of which Mr Dara worked for - closed down by authorities.