Two reporters working for the unregistered Radio Free Asia (RFA) were arrested on Tuesday in Meanchey district, Capital Phnom Penh. The two reporters were accused for an act of spying.
According to a local newspaper, the reporters were arrested by district police during a regular operation to control the area in sangkat Steung Meanchey.
Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, in September, said that the Radio Free Asia (RFA) funded by US agency has been operating in Cambodia since years, but the radio did not register with his ministry yet, that was why he ordered a number of local radios to not rebroadcasting news from this unregistered radio.
As a result, RFA shut down its office in Cambodia without saying any word. According to Fresh News, the radio ended all contracts with its employees who have been told they could voluntarily renew their contract later to work at home and send their news report directly to Washington DC when possible.
Moreover, Mr. Ouk Kimseng, spokesman for the Ministry of Information, told reporters in a press conference in September that if this unregistered radio RFA did not want to register with his ministry, all its reporters would not be allowed to send any report to the radio. Any report sent to the radio would be considered as an act of spying.
On the other hand, General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, supported Mr. Kimseng's statement by saying that if RFA's reporters continued to work in the dark to send news to the unregistered radio's main office in Washington DC, his ministry would take legal measures against those reporters.
"In the light, we already find it difficult to discuss with them. So what about when they work in the dark? If they want to work in the dark, they have to be responsible for themselves before the law," Gen. Sopheak told a local newspaper in September.
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