"Dictator Hun Sen shuts down Cambodia’s VOD broadcaster", 13 February 2023

Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, has ordered the closure of one of the country’s few independent media organisations, a move condemned as a blatant attempt to “slam the door” on what remains of the free press in the country.

Hun Sen, …, said Voice of Democracy (VOD) would no longer have a licence to publish or broadcast ...

In the past, VOD has doggedly investigated corruption and human rights issues in Cambodia, including reporting extensively on the rise of scam compounds, where human trafficking victims are duped and trapped working for online scam operations, in conditions a UN expert likened to “living hell”.

“No one should underestimate the revenge component of this decision,” said Robertson, adding that VOD had been at the forefront of exposing official complicity in such cyber-scam syndicates, which have made Cambodia “synonymous with the latest, sinister form of 21st century slavery”.

Under Hun Sen’s rule, independent newspapers and websites have been closed, opposition figures jailed or forced into exile while legislation that restricts civil freedom has been adopted.

In a report … the Office of the United Nations high commissioner for Human Rights warned the country’s media was in “a perilous state”, adding that journalists working in the country faced various forms of harassment and pressure, including through the criminal justice system…

A spokesperson for Amnesty’s regional office said Hun Sen’s order to close VOD was “a blatant attempt to slam the door on what’s left of independent media in the country”…