Cambodian Journalists Challenge Treason Convictions Over Facebook Posts

Two Cambodian journalists are fighting back against their convictions on treason charges, which stem from posting controversial photographs on Facebook last year. The images are linked to border clashes with Thailand and have led to 14-year prison sentences for Phorn Sopheap from Battambang Post TV Online and Pheap Pheara from TSP 68 TV Online.

The journalists were apprehended on July 31 after returning from reporting assignments. Authorities claim the images, taken in restricted military zones, show land mines, challenging Cambodia's official denial of their use. Charged with supplying harmful information to a foreign state, both men were sentenced in December by the Siem Reap Provincial Court.

Press freedom watchdogs, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Licadho, have criticized the charges as an attack on legitimate reporting. Allegations of new mines on the border with Thailand, which Cambodia denies, have intensified controversies amid ongoing tensions despite a ceasefire.