Concerns are growing over the detained journalist rewarded by the US for exposing online scam centers

By Helen Regan, CNN

(CNN) — International concern is growing over the arrest of a prominent Cambodian journalist who helped expose human trafficking fueling online scam centers, with several governments and rights groups calling for his immediate release.

Mech Dara was arrested by Cambodian police on Monday and charged with inciting “provoking serious social chaos” following social media posts he made last month about operations at a quarry, according to a statement from the Phnom Municipal Court Penh in the country’s capital. He could face two years in prison for each charge.

The award-winning reporter is known for his investigations that expose corruption, environmental destruction and human trafficking in a country that severely restricts press freedom. Cambodian NGO LICADHO said he has consistently pushed for accountability and justice.

In 2023, Mech Dara won the US Department of State’s TIP Hero Award for his work exposing Cambodia’s multi-billion dollar illegal scam industry. Images show him next to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who presented the award.

In a statement on The embassy called the reporter a “leading voice against human trafficking and online scams” and a “champion of freedom of expression, guaranteed in the constitution.”

The USAID Cambodia Counter Trafficking in Persons Project said Mech Dara “embodies the ideals of a free society in Cambodia” and that it “publicly supports this great individual and anti-trafficking hero.”

The European Union and Australia also shared their concerns about his arrest. “All Cambodians should be able to exercise their right to freedom of expression without fear of arrest and prosecution,” the Australian Embassy in Cambodia said.

A group of 46 Cambodian media and civil society organizations called for Mech Dara’s immediate release, saying his arrest “is a clear attempt to intimidate and silence him and other journalists.”

Human rights groups have said sedition charges are often used by Cambodian authorities against human rights defenders, activists, journalists and critics of the government.

The scam operations of Southeast Asia

A major focus of Mech Dara’s work is Cambodia’s role at the center of a fraud epidemic in Southeast Asia, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of victims and raised global security concerns at agencies such as the U.S. State Department and the United Nations.

Many people in Asia are duped into seemingly legitimate jobs in the region and then trafficked to scam centers where they face severe abuse, including forced labor, arbitrary detention, degrading treatment or torture – often with minimal or no help from local authorities.

According to the US Institute for Peace and law enforcement agencies, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos are the epicenter of this network. The UN says 100,000 people could be held in camps across Cambodia, while another 120,000 are being held in Myanmar in conditions amounting to modern slavery.

From these complexes, the mainly Chinese-run transnational criminal gangs run lucrative online operations ranging from illegal gambling to romance fraud and crypto fraud. Victims come from all over the world, including the US.

In Cambodia, the industry is worth $12.8 billion annually – equivalent to half of the country’s GDP, according to the USIP.

Journalists covering Cambodia’s scam center industry have reportedly faced harassment, surveillance and legal threats, VOA reports. CNN cannot independently verify the reports.

Restriction of press freedom in Cambodia

Rights groups say Cambodia’s once-thriving media sector has been decimated in recent years by former strongman Hun Sen, who ruled the country for more than 30 years before handing power to his eldest son Hun Manet in 2022.

Cambodia ranks 151st out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ 2024 World Press Freedom Index. Since 2018, independent media outlets have been gutted or forced to close, and censorship, state surveillance, media blackouts and online harassment are widespread.

As a freelancer, Mech Dara worked for several local and international media outlets, including Voice of Democracy, which was forced to close last year.

The closure of Cambodia’s last independent media organization was widely condemned as the final blow to press freedom in the country.

Mech Dara told CNN at the time: “We fought for the truth. We’ve always done that, but some people clearly couldn’t handle it.”

“There are so many stories to tell about Cambodia from Cambodia and this extends to the wider region – countries like Myanmar and Vietnam,” he added. “It is a space that is becoming increasingly narrow and the voices are being silenced, so that the outside world cannot see in.”

In a statement on his arrest, Kate Schuetze, director of research at Amnesty International, said the charges against Mech Dara “further demonstrate that the Cambodian government will not hesitate to repress journalists.”

“This is the latest step in the new administration’s campaign to erase press freedom,” she said.

The CNN Wire
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CNN’s Kathleen Magramo, Teele Rebane and Heather Chen contributed reporting.