"Cambodia's ties with West threatened by media clampdown", 14 February 2023

One of Cambodia's last independent news outlets, VOD, was forcibly closed…

Attacks … are escalating in Cambodia, with the forced closure of Voice of Democracy (VOD) … as Prime Minister Hun Sen is hosting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier…

Many analysts believe that the clampdown on Voice of Democracy (VOD) was an attempt to silence one of the country's last remaining independent voices.

Rights group Amnesty International's Hana Young decried the affair as "a blatant attempt to slam the door on what's left of independent media in the country" and urged the prime minister to "withdraw this heavy-handed and disproportionate order."

Germany hopes VOD will be back

The ban was announced the same day that Germany's Steinmeier arrived in the capital Phnom Penh to start his Asian tour and the move is likely to raise questions about recent European rapprochement with Cambodia. The German president's itinerary includes a meeting with Hun Sen.

A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry told … they are "deeply concerned" about the closure of VOD.

"Cambodia is losing an important independent voice," they added. "This is bad news for press freedom and democracy. We hope that Voice of Democracy can resume its work soon."…