Concern is growing over freedom of press in Cambodia after British journalist blacklisted from the country
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Concern is growing over freedom of press in Cambodia after British journalist blacklisted from the country

Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Cambodia’s Interior Ministry confirmed Wednesday that it had blocked a British journalist who is known for his reporting on human rights violations, an incident that comes in the midst of growing concerns about freedom of the press in the Southeast Asian nation.

Gerald Flynn, a reporter with us- based website for conservation news Mongabay, was denied re-entry into the country over problems with his visa after a short trip to neighboring Thailand in January, says the Interior’s spokesman Touch Sokhak.

He said Flynn claimed that he was an electrician on his original visa application but worked as a journalist instead.

“He cheated Cambodia,” said Sokhak.

But Flynn called the claim “bizaries”, noting that the black list came just a few days after he was a source in a France24 documentary that examines Cambodia’s carbon equalization project.

“I have only ever worked as a journalist in Cambodia and have always represented myself as such to the government,” Flynn said in a statement sent to the Associated Press.

“The lack of credible explanation or evidence from the government, in combination with the time of my blacklist, indicates that I was denied entry into Cambodia as a result of my investigative journalism, which has often bound powerful elites to environmental destruction.”

On one statement This week Mongabay said that Flynn had been a journalist in Cambodia for five years and had always represented himself as such.

“He has consistently had a valid government -published press pass during his five years,” the publication said.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, who in 2023 succeeded his father Hun, after almost four decades of authoritarian rule, has shown few signs of political liberalization, bursts on political opponents and critics.

In September the award -winning reporter Mech Dara was quickly arrested and convicted of charges of incentives after reports he published disclosure online fraud and corruption.

Then the US Foreign Ministry said it was “deeply worried” by his arrest, and about four dozen Cambodian media organizations and civil society groups issued a joint statement urges his immediate release and to “stop all forms of harassment against media organizations and journalists.”

In December, another journalist, Chhoeung Chheng, was shot and killed when he reported the transport of illegally cut wood in the Siem Reap province.

The Committee to protect journalists said the murder showed “serious farmer reporters face in Cambodia” and urged the government to do more to protect them.

The foreign correspondents’ club in Thailand said it was “deeply concerned” about the blacklist of Flynn, which served as president of the Overseas Press Club in Cambodia.

“This is another nail in the coffin to the free press in Cambodia, which has seen local and foreign journalists seriously scared in recent years and many news organizations were exposed.”