According to an alert from the press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Ouk Mao, 49, was arrested on Friday “by plainclothes military officers without a warrant,” who took him to the provincial military police headquarters in Stung Treng, in the country’s northeast.
Mao’s wife Ek Cheat told the environmental news site Mongabaythat the three plainclothes officers who carried out the arrest said that “their boss wanted to speak to Mao about a piece of land.” Mao works for the online outlet Intri Plus News, which covers local news related to governance, corruption, and environmental issues. The outlet currently has 108,000 followers on Facebook.
