Cambodian journalist Mech Dara thanked his supporters Thursday after being freed from prison.
“I am delighted [to be out], but my health is weak,” he said. “I would like to thank everyone who supports me. I notice that my friends inside and outside the country do everything to help me [get] released.”
The reporter, who is known for coverage that exposes corruption and human rights trafficking, had been in pretrial detention since September 30.
He was accused of "incitement to disturb or provoke social chaos." A Phnom Penh court earlier alleged the journalist had posted “provocative" and "false" messages and pictures about the apparent destruction of the entrance to a religious site.
On Wednesday, the country’s information minister shared a video of Mech Dara making an apology, along with images of a three-page letter the minister said the journalist had written.
The journalist’s lawyer, Duch Piseth, told VOA that Mech Dara has been released on bail, but the charge has not been dropped.
“I hope his charge will be dropped, and I will work with my client more to proceed [with] the case in accordance with his wish,” said Duch Piseth.
He added that the journalist is not allowed to leave the country and is required to report to police every month.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders welcomed the release and reiterated "its call to the authorities to immediately drop all charges against him.”
Mech Dara’s arrest drew international condemnation. Last year, the journalist received a hero award from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his work exposing mass scam centers staffed mostly by trafficked workers in Cambodia.
Independent Cambodian media association CamboJA said Mech Dara was released after apologizing to Senate head Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Nop Vy, the association’s executive director, told VOA the release on bail was a “good sign.” He called for the charge to be dropped so that Mech Dara “has full freedom to continue working as a journalist.”
The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights also issued a statement on the release of the award-winning journalist.
“[Mech] Dara’s work includes investigations into scam operations including the use of transnational human trafficking and torture within these compounds,” the rights group said, noting that the journalist had worked for national and international media, including The Cambodia Daily, The Phnom Penh Post and Voice of Democracy.
