Award-winning Cambodian journalist freed on bail

An award-winning Cambodian journalist arrested over social media posts was freed on bail Thursday after pro-government media released a prison video showing him apologizing to the country's leaders.

Police arrested Mech Dara on September 30 after stopping a car carrying him and his family from Sihanoukville, a coastal city where many suspected cyber scam operations take place.

Dara is renowned for his reporting on human trafficking in Cambodia's notorious cyber scam industry and his arrest on charges of inciting social disorder drew international condemnation.

He was freed on bail from a prison near Phnom Penh on Thursday and said he would take a break from journalism while he fights the charges against him.

"I thank everyone who helped get me out of jail on bail," he told reporters.

He said he needed to take time to recover mentally and physically from his detention.

"My health is weak. My brain is not working yet," he said.

"I hope that I can continue my career to serve the public."

His successful bail application came less than a day after government-friendly media outlet Fresh News released a video of him apologizing.

The footage, released late Wednesday, showed Dara dressed in an orange prison uniform, hands pressed together in supplication and apparently kneeling.

In the minute-long video, Dara apologizes to Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen and his son Hun Manet, the current prime minister, saying his posts contained "false information that is harmful to the leaders and the country".

Dara also said he would stop posting material that is "harmful" to them and Cambodia.

In a separate statement, released along with the video, Dara asked the court to release him and for the charges against him to be dropped.

Dara's lawyer Duch Piseth told AFP he had submitted a bail request to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday morning.

- Crackdown on dissent -

The apology video came hours after a meeting between Hun Manet and visiting USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who told reporters that she raised Dara's arrest with him.

Earlier this month, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court accused Dara of posting "many incitement messages... to ignite anger to make people misunderstand about the leadership of the Cambodian government" on his social media platforms including Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp, X, and Signal.

Mech Dara was presented last year with a Hero Award, which recognises efforts against human trafficking, by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for investigations into exploitation at online scam compounds in Cambodia.

Dara worked for the independent media outlet Voice of Democracy before Cambodian authorities shut it down in February 2023.

He has since used his social media platforms to share news content, particularly around the proliferation of "scam farms" -- criminal operations that defraud victims online for vast sums of money and fuel human trafficking across the region.

Cambodia places near the bottom of international press freedom rankings and rights groups have long accused the government of using legal cases as a tool to silence dissenting voices.

© Agence France-Presse