Immigration police detain journalists, forced to break both fingers in Magnets, please help

On 28 January 2023, Sorn Sorida, a journalist from an online media outlet Sangkom Pachabon was arrested by a group of ten police after he reported about cigarette smuggling in Kandal province.

According to the 30-year old reporter, he accidentally saw a man smuggling cigarette from Cambodia border to Vietnam through K’am Samnor border checkpoint, while he was visiting his relative there. He told CamboJA via a phone interview that he had captured photos of the smuggling activity and went to K’am Samnor immigration police station to report the case, but the police referred him to report it to their boss instead. Sorida said he did not follow their instruction and left the police station. On the way back from the police station, he saw over 10 policemen driving motorbikes were following him and ordering him to stop. Sorida was brought to the police station and accused of ‘reporting without a mission letter and failure to inform police before carrying out his journalistic work.’

Sorida told CamboJA he was forced to accept in writing that he was wrong and delete the pictures he had taken in exchange for being released.