Mech Dara: Award-winning journalist who exposed cyberscams is arrested

Mech Dara faces up to two years in jail after being charged with inciting unrest on social media.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatchHomeNewsUS ElectionSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifyUS ElectionElection pollsKamala HarrisDonald TrumpJD VanceTim WalzSportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessWomen at the HelmFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsUS ElectionSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersAward-winning Cambodian journalist who exposed cyberscams is arrestedGetty ImagesMech Dara has been honoured for his work by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken Mech Dara, an award-winning Cambodian journalist who has reported extensively on human trafficking and corruption, has been arrested and charged with incitement.

Dara, who has reported for the BBC, has been charged over five social media posts which could "incite social unrest", a court spokesperson said. He faces up to two years in jail.

Last year US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken honoured him for his work exposing online scam operations based in Cambodia.

Rights groups have spoken out over his arrest, while the US Embassy in Cambodia said it was "deeply troubled" by the news.

Dara was detained after being stopped at a highway toll booth on the border of Koh Kong and Sihanouk province in south-west Cambodia on Monday.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdjez9219n7o

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