On 26 March 2026, the Court of Appeal in Battambang Province upheld the verdict of the Siem Reap Provincial Court, sentencing journalists Phon Sopheap and Pheap Phara to 14 years in prison.
Earlier, on 13 March 2026, the Court of Appeal held a hearing on the case of the two journalists, who had been convicted by the Siem Reap Provincial Court on 17 December 2025 and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment on charges of treason.
During the appeal hearing, both journalists asked the court to drop the charges, stating that they had no intention of providing information to a foreign state that could undermine national defence. Their lawyer requested that the court reclassify the charge from Article 445 (supplying a foreign state with information prejudicial to national defence) to Article 479 (intentional or unintentional disclosure of national defence secrets).
Article 479 of the Criminal Code provides that “a violation of a national defence secret resulting from recklessness, carelessness, negligence, or disobedience is punishable by imprisonment from six months to two years and a fine of one million to four million riels.”
Despite these arguments, the Court of Appeal upheld the original ruling, maintaining the 14-year prison sentences.
According to the case record, on 29 July 2025, the two journalists travelled to a border area to report on local conditions and deliver humanitarian donations to soldiers stationed there. During the visit, they posted a photograph taken at Ta Krabei Temple, which showed landmines in the background. The image was later widely circulated by Thai media outlets.
Previously, on 10 September 2025, the Siem Reap Provincial Court stated that the journalists had been arrested on suspicion of gathering information and taking photographs in a prohibited military zone near a battlefield, actions the court claimed could undermine national defence.