Publisher of online media outlet jailed for reporting on illegal logging

Description

On 17 December 2023, Kim Den, a publisher for online news media outlet DN Peace News in Steung Treng Province, was arrested by military police on charges of illegally logging in order to occupy state land, allegedly committed on April 29, 2015.

On September 23, 2023, Stung Treng’s provincial court sentenced Den to five years in prison on charges of encroaching on state land in Stung Treng Province’s Siempang District. The case was upheld by an appeals court in Tbong Khmom province on April 19, 2023, according to the arrest warrant issued on December 12, 2023.
Den’s wife said that on the day of his arrest, he received a phone call from provincial military police, inviting him to join an officer’s promotion ceremony at Sok Sambath hotel that day. However, he was instead brought to a provincial military police office, and immediately sent to jail.

Both Den’s wife and Mr. Sovandaravuth, the deputy publisher of DN Peace News, said Den had previously cleared forest land in 2015, before he worked as a journalist, but returned the land to the state later that year.

Sovanndaravuth said Den had recently reported on illegal logging in the province.

Information
Is the case related to their journalistic work?
Yes
Number of attacked persons or entities related to media
1
Do they work as freelance or media?
Yes
Position in media
Other
Status of journalists
Full time
Gender
Male
Age
25-34
Country
Stung Treng
Full name or name of group
Unidentified
Background (state actor or non state actor)
State actor (Police officer, Military officer, Government, public institution, etc)
Gender
Male
Is it related to gender and identity based violence?
No
Attack mention about gender background/sexual wording?
No
Date of incident
Type of incident
Criminal lawsuit/charge: Other charge
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http://tinyurl.com/mzenufvs
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Publisher of online media outlet jailed for reporting on illegal logging.docx (13.22 KB)
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