Two journalists questioned by ACU after reporting about corruption

Two online journalists from San Prum News were questioned on February 6 and 7, 2025 by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) after they published a video interviewing the wife of a public servant, who is being held in pre-trial detention on corruption charges.
On January 4, 2025, journalists from the media outlet interviewed the wife and daughter of the official in Kampong Thom province. The interview, which was published on Oudom TV and Kongkan TV but removed, carried their views that he was allegedly charged without evidence.
According to a statement by Kampong Thom provincial court on July 28, 2024, the accused, He Keoun, who was head of the Economic and Urban Development Office of Steung Sen town, was arrested on July 28 on charges of “intentional destruction and embezzlement of a mangrove forest land”.
A local media report stated that during the 12-minute interview, Keoun’s wife alleged that the ACU had detained her husband for "six months" without resolution, accusing him of involvement in land issues in Tonle Sap’s Zone 3 and of receiving $380,000 from an unidentified individual.
The wife told journalists in the interview that her husband was “just following orders” from the provincial level, but did not mention who gave the orders and what the order was about. She was quoted as saying that if her husband” committed the crime”, their family would “live in a nicer house”.
After the interview was published on January 4, 2025, the journalists, and both the accused’s wife and daughter were summoned for questioning by the ACU about the report which the ACU perceived as “intentionally inciting opposition against the unit”.
On January 30, 2025, a day before the summons were issued, the journalists submitted an apology letter to the ACU, seeking forgiveness from the ACU president. The journalists said that the content of the interview originated from sources and was not exaggerated in an attempt to cause incitement.
One journalist told CamboJA on February 11, 2025 that he was questioned by the ACU for one day and a half on February 6. On the first day, he was first questioned from 3pm to 6pm and from 8.30am to 6pm the next day. Many questions were asked, he said, sharing that it could have been more than 20 questions.
The journalists were allowed to return home after questioning. One of them said even though no action was taken or warning given by the ACU after the questioning, the summons made him concerned about his safety. “I will be more careful to check both parties [sources] before publishing any news from now,” he said.