An award-winning Cambodian freelance investigative reporter has been arrested in what's been described as a "retaliatory move" from the country's authoritarian rulers.
Known especially for investigating online scam centres, Mech Dara's arrest followed posts he made about a rock quarry and a revered mountain that local officials denounced on Monday as an attempt to foment dissent.
Spokesperson for rights group Licadho Am Sam Ath said the group received an SMS message from Dara on Monday saying he was being arrested by military police.
"Arresting one of Cambodia's bravest journalists will have a devastating effect on access to information for all Cambodians," Naly Pilorge, outreach co-director at Licadho, told Radio Free Asia.
A family member told the ABC they did not know where Dara had been taken.
"I'm really worried about his safety," they told the ABC.
"I'm afraid they will harm or injure him."
Military police spokesperson Eng Hy confirmed that Dara had been arrested after a warrant was issued but declined to say why.
He said further information was confidential until the investigation was completed as required by Cambodia's criminal code.
The ABC has also sought comment from Ministry of Justice spokesperson Chin Malin and government spokesperson Pen Bona.
Jacob Sims, a transnational crime and modern slavery expert, said he believed the arrest was politically motivated.
The US State Department has previously alleged Cambodian government "corruption and official complicity" in human trafficking for the online scam industry.
"Dara's courageous reporting has played a pivotal role in the widening global awareness of Cambodia's massive scam industry," Mr Sims said.
"His arrest can only be seen as a retaliatory move for the discomfort now being felt by party elites with demonstrated ties to the industry."
Mr Sims said Cambodia's legal and court system was "fully captured" by these elite interests.
"As a result, this kind of 'lawfare' is frequently deployed as an instrument of repression," he said.
"Though this is a common story in Cambodia, it is particularly tragic in this case because of the significant extent to which Dara's work serves the global public interest."
Dara's family confirmed their car was stopped at a toll booth in Koh Kong province at the entrance to the expressway to Phnom Penh when police arrived in a military vehicle and five other cars.
They said they did not see any arrest warrant.
While they remained in the car, Dara's phone was taken, they said.
The police action came after Dara posted two images on his Facebook page of a quarry operation and of the revered mountain Ba Phnom, which has a Buddhist pagoda, in the south-eastern province of Prey Veng.
The since-deleted post has been taken to suggest the sacred mountain was being destroyed, which appears not to be the case.
On Monday, the Prey Veng provincial administration issued a statement rejecting his post, and accused him of "wanting to cause social disorder or confusion", which can be prosecuted as a criminal offence.
The province also called on the Information Ministry to take legal action against him.
Dara previously worked as a journalist for the Cambodia Daily and the Phnom Penh Post, two once-independent English-language newspapers respectively forced to shut down under government pressure and neutered.
He also worked at media outlet Voice of Democracy, which was closed by the government last year.
Dara is best known for his reports in the past few years about human trafficking connected to online scam operations.
Trafficking victims are tricked into signing up for what they believe are legitimate jobs in Cambodia, only to then be locked in compounds and forced to scam people around the world.
In a scam known as "pig butchering", scam operators slowly build up a relationship of trust with their targets, often involving romance, before convincing them to hand over large amounts of money for fake investments.
The practice has been going on for several years, based mostly in Cambodia and Myanmar.
The US State Department honoured Dara as a 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report Hero for his work exposing the problem.
The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders in its latest report ranked Cambodia 151st out of 180 in its international press freedom index.
"The main broadcasters and the few remaining newspapers generally toe the government line," said the group.
"Many subjects are impossible to cover, such as political opposition, corruption and deforestation.
"Despite the growing number of online media outlets, few provide balanced reporting. Only a few independent Cambodian media, broadcasting from abroad, provide quality news coverage."
ABC/AP
