Cambodia authorities urged to release detained environmental journalist News
Kiensvay, CC-BY-SA 3.0
Cambodia authorities urged to release detained environmental journalist

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Cambodian authorities Monday to immediately release environmental journalist Ouk Mao, who was arrested on May 7 while reporting in the coastal city of Sihanoukville.

Ouk Mao works for a local news outlet and was documenting illegal deforestation and land grabs in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province. He was allegedly detained by three plainclothes officers who arrived at his home in an unmarked vehicle without any arrest warrant. The officers handcuffed him and stated that “their boss wanted to speak to Mao about a piece of land” before taking him to an undisclosed location. He was later identified at the Stung Treng Provincial Gendarmerie Headquarters and remains in detention at the provincial prison.

Mao is known for his reporting on illegal logging and land grabs in reserved forests and previously faced legal charges and physical attacks due to his environmental journalism. In 2024, he was charged with illegally clearing state-owned forest and incitement after exposing deforestation linked to a mining company with ties to the Cambodian military. Despite no evidence being presented, he was placed under indefinite court surveillance, restricting his movements.

“Cambodia should stop treating environmental reporters as criminals and protect, not harass, journalists like Mao” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative in response to the arrest. He further noted that “Mao’s seizure and detention, without any explanation, is just the latest assault in Cambodia on journalists who report on environmental issues and crimes.”

Cambodia’s Information Ministry has not responded to media inquiries regarding the journalist’s detention. Reporters Without Borders has also expressed concern that the arrest is part of a wider pattern of intimidation against journalists covering land disputes and environmental degradation linked to government-backed development projects.

This is not the first time Cambodian authorities have targeted environmental reporters and activists. In 2021, three journalists affiliated with the Mother Nature Cambodia environmental group were sentenced to prison terms for documenting pollution and deforestation. In 2024, an environmental journalist was killed, and an award-winning journalist was arrested.

Cambodia ranked 161st out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, which has repeatedly criticized the country for its “judicial harassment” of independent journalists.

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