Two Cambodian journalists sentenced to 14 years in prison for treason have formally appealed their convictions, reopening scrutiny over the use of national security laws in reporting on last year’s deadly border clashes with Thailand.
Phorn Sopheap of Battambang Post TV Online and Pheap Pheara of TSP 68 TV Online were detained July 31 in separate locations as they returned from assignments near the frontier.
Prosecutors accused them of photographing a restricted military zone during fighting between Cambodian and Thai forces, according to a report by the Associated Press.
One of the images, later shared on Facebook, showed land mines in the background and was widely republished by Thai media outlets.
In December, the Siem Reap Provincial Court found both men guilty of supplying a foreign state with information deemed harmful to national defense.
Treason in Cambodia carries a prison term of seven to 15 years. Court spokesperson Yin Srang confirmed the 14-year sentences and said both families have lodged appeals.
According to the rights group Licadho, court information released in September linked the charges directly to Facebook posts made while the journalists were covering the clashes.
The Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association said authorities alleged the two gathered information and took photographs in a prohibited military area near a battlefield, actions the court said could undermine national defense.
The image at the center of the case became contentious after Thai outlets circulated it, alleging it showed newly placed land mines.
Cambodia has denied laying mines during the conflict and has maintained that it complies with international agreements banning their use.
Thai officials accused Cambodia of placing fresh mines along the border that injured Thai soldiers. Cambodian authorities countered that any explosives found could have been remnants of earlier wars that ended in the late 1990s.
Om Sarath, the wife of Pheap Pheara, said her husband had traveled to the area to deliver gifts to front-line soldiers and took a souvenir photograph without realizing a land mine appeared in the background or that the site was restricted.
She said she filed an appeal through a lawyer on Monday and is seeking acquittal for both journalists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Cambodian authorities not to contest the appeal and to stop invoking national security laws against journalists.
Cambodia ranked 161st out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders, placing it among countries where press freedom is considered very serious.
