Concerns about freedom of speech in Cambodia are rising once again. Police have arrested a renowned freelance journalist, without saying why.
Mech Dara was reportedly taken in on Monday while traveling with his family by car to Phnom Penh.
He is known for covering human rights abuses linked to online fraud, and for his work at Voice of Democracy, one of Cambodia’s last independent news outlets.
Authorities suspended the organization’s media license last year after a story on Hun Manet, the son of then-prime minister Hun Sen, who is now leader himself.
The US State Department has awarded Dara for his work. But his critical reporting appears to have riled authorities on home soil.
Western countries have recently voiced concern about the state of democracy in Cambodia, especially freedom of speech.