Four Pursat Journalists Arrested While Covering Community Land Dispute

On February 26, 2025, four journalists from UMA News and Phnom Kravanh Post were arrested by Veal Veng district police while covering a land dispute involving a community forest.
Journalists from UMA told CamboJA that they had received a phone call from a villager reporting land clearance by local authorities, which was affecting a community forest in Veal Veng district. Upon arriving at the site to meet villagers and document the situation, authorities arrived and took them to the district police station for questioning.
Two journalists were detained for two days (April 26 and 27) , while the other two were released on the same day as their arrest. One of the detained journalists reported that he and his colleague were not provided with food or water on the first day and were forced to reveal the identities of those who had informed them about the land clearing—something they refused to do. He added that during their detention, police confiscated their mobile phones, ID cards, and other personal documents.
Veal Veng district acting police chief Chea Paris claimed he was unaware of the case. UMA representative Tum Sam An confirmed that three UMA journalists were among those arrested and detained by district police. A monitoring officer from the local rights group ADHOC in Pursat province was also aware of the arrests.
The journalists were accused of using invalid press credentials. However, a UMA representative told CamboJA that the outlet had already applied for 2025 press cards from the Ministry of Information, though they had not yet received them.
The journalists were released on February 28 following the intervention of the Pursat Provincial Court prosecutor and the provincial governor, who sent a letter to the police requesting their release. They were also instructed not to report on their arrest.
Another journalist, who was released on the same day as the arrest, stated that police initially invited them to the district administration office but instead took them to the district police station, where they were detained. He noted that from 10:30 a.m., the time of their arrest, until 6:00 p.m., they were not given any food or water. Meanwhile, a journalist from Phnom Kravanh Post was unreachable.