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Sixteen press group associations and civil rights organizations on Friday submitted an open letter to Prime Minister Hun Manet, calling him to request the King to grant amnesty to 2 on-line journalists who have been convicted of treason costs and sentenced to 14 years in jail.
TSP 68 TV On-line reporter Pheap Pheara and Battambang Submit TV On-line reporter Phon Sopheap have been convicted by Siem Reap Provincial Court docket final yr for “supplying a overseas state with info prejudicial to nationwide protection”.
In June this yr, the Supreme Court docket upheld their conviction which has been condemned by dozens of Cambodian and worldwide press organizations because it has led to the shrinking of press freedom amid border dispute reporting.
“We respectfully ask Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadie Hun Manet […] to train this authority by submitting a request to His Majesty the King to grant amnesty to Phon Sopheap and Pheap Pheara,” learn the open letter.
The granting of clemency would allow them to regain their liberty, reunite with their households, and resume their skilled work as journalists.
The case represents probably the most severe actions towards journalists in Cambodia and raises vital considerations about freedom of expression, press freedom and the usage of nationwide safety legal guidelines towards members of the media, the letter continued.
The 2 journalists, who have been arrested after lethal border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand in July final yr, took selfies with Cambodian troops, together with one picture allegedly displaying landmines within the background.
Thai media later circulated the picture with a caption linking Thailand’s declare that Cambodia had laid new landmines alongside the border that wounded Thai troopers. Cambodia vehemently denied laying new mines in the course of the battle.
Sopheap’s spouse, Hong Tha, welcomed the group’s request for royal pardon, saying that he’s harmless, and hoping that it will result in his launch quickly.
“I’m very completely happy [about the request] and wish to [also] request Samdech Hun Manet to pardon my husband,” Tha stated. “He [Sopheap] had no intention of committing the offence of offering info to a overseas state.”
Together with her husband imprisoned, she has been struggling to help their three youngsters, aged three, 18 and 23, and repaying a financial institution mortgage of about $400 monthly.
She stated she earns a small earnings from promoting fruit of their village in Banteay Meanchey province.
Her oldest daughter dropped out of the second yr of her college training and is now working in a garment manufacturing facility in Phnom Penh to assist help the household.
In the meantime, Pheara’s spouse Om Sarath stated that her husband is harmless. “Fourteen years in jail could be very lengthy. He didn’t commit what he was charged for [treason] as he had simply contributed items,” she stated.
Sarath and Pheara have two daughters, aged 21 months and 9, and she or he is now saddled with the accountability of repaying a 300,000 riel or about $75 financial institution debt.
Nop Vy, Government Director of Cambodian Journalists Alliance Affiliation, which is likely one of the 16 press associations that submitted the open letter, stated that “everybody is aware of the position of the prime minister in recommending royal clemency from the king for the 2 journalists”.
“We want the media and we have to do issues to show the federal government [which] has [received] criticism,” he stated, stressing that 14 years jail is “actually unjust” for Pheap and Pheara.
Authorities spokesperson Pen Bona referred inquiries to Prime Minister Hun Manet’s spokesperson Meas Sophorn, however the latter couldn’t be reached for remark.
Greater than 30 people together with opposition figures, activists, and journalists have been arrested between July 2025 and February 2026 over social media posts associated to Cambodia’s border clashes with Thailand, which broke out in July and flared once more in December earlier than a ceasefire was reached.
Cambodia ranked among the many world’s lowest-performing nations in a world rule of regulation index final yr, scoring 161 out of 181 nations within the 2025 press freedom index. The federal government has repeatedly criticized crucial reviews from worldwide rights teams as biased.
