Cambodian journalist Luot Sophal has been detained for six months in retaliation for his reporting on how water shortages affected Cambodian soldiers during the 2025 border conflict with Thailand. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Cambodian authorities to immediately release the journalist and to stop the abuse of criminal charges to silence independent reporting.
On 7 August 2026, journalist Luot Sophal's legal team filed an appeal against the recent two-year prison sentence handed down by the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Court in Northwest Cambodia. The 38-year-old journalist, who works for the independent local outlet Srotop Yuvakvey News, was convicted on 14 July on charges of “demoralising the armed forces” and “incitement to commit a felony”.
Luot Sophal has been detained since 13 February. He was prosecuted after livestreaming about his reporting on an alleged water shortage affecting frontline Cambodian soldiers during the border conflict with Thailand. The same information was also reported by independent Cambodian media, including Voice of Democracy (VOD) and the US-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia (RFA), both of which have been operating from exile for many years due to government repression.
Pen Noun, editor and owner of Srotop Yuvakvey News, told RSF: "I would like to see him released. He should never have been sentenced to two years in prison. Other journalists also reported on these issues, so why was he arrested?"
"Journalist Luot Sophal was simply doing his job when he reported on the difficult conditions Cambodian soldiers faced at the border, and the authorities' efforts to silence him demonstrate their utter contempt for press freedom. We urge the Cambodian authorities to overturn his conviction and immediately release him. They must end their systemic persecution of journalists who report on matters of public interest.
Journalists covering the Thailand border conflict increasingly targeted
Cambodian authorities have intensified their crackdown on journalists reporting critically on the country's border conflict with Thailand since tensions escalated last year. In August 2025, journalist Meas Sara was detained for one day and charged with “incitement to commit a felony” after publishing interviews with Cambodians living near the border who said they had lost access to their homes due to Thai military operations. The charges against him remain pending.
Cambodia, where the state of press freedom is classified as "very serious," ranks 151st out of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
