A media outlet friendly to the Cambodian government on Wednesday published a video of jailed journalist Mech Dara apologizing for his social media posts and asking for forgiveness after the award-winning reporter was brought to court for five hours of questioning. 

Fresh News posted the one-minute video, as well as two handwritten letters. 

Radio Free Asia cannot independently verify when the video was shot or whether Dara was forced to make the filmed and written apologies. 

Earlier in the day, Dara was brought to Phnom Penh Municipal Court, where he was questioned for five hours.

Dara was arrested on Sept. 30 and charged a day later with “incitement to provoke serious social disorder” under articles 494 and 495 of Cambodia’s criminal code. If tried and found guilty, he could face up to two years of prison. 

In the video posted to Fresh News, Dara is seen wearing an orange jail uniform and holding up his hands in a sampeah, a Cambodian gesture of respect. 

He apologizes to both Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, former Prime Minister Hun Sen, for posts made to social media between Sept. 20 and 29. 

“All the contents that I posted are fake news that affect our leaders and the country’s [image]. I apologize and regret the mistakes that I posted,” he says in the video. 

“I promise to no longer post any information that may affect our leaders and country.”

Fresh News also posted photos of three handwritten, thumb-printed pages — letters they claim Dara wrote to Senate President Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet.

The letter to Hun Sen outlines the contents of five posts in which Dara purportedly mocked progress and development in Cambodia; compared how the perpetrators of traffic accidents were treated in Australia as opposed to Cambodia; and said that a quarry operation had destroyed stairs to a popular local tourist destination called Ba Phnom. He writes that his posts were “fake news affecting the social order and the government leadership.” 

In his letter to Prime Minister Hun Manet, Mech Dara writes that he: “regrets and admits the mistakes and promises to stop posting any content that may affect the society and damage the reputation of Cambodia. I request your leniency and amnesty.”

Provoking condemnation

The case against Dara, known for his hard-hitting reporting on cyber-scam compounds and human trafficking, has drawn significant condemnation from human rights groups and foreign governments. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, visited Cambodia and announced more than US$50 million in funding for demining programs, tuberculosis treatment, and a range of programs for the environment, media, civil society and more.  

At a press conference held Wednesday evening, Power told journalists the U.S. government was following Dara’s case “very closely” and said she had raised it and others during talks with Prime Minister Hun Manet.  

“We have emphasized our support for finding positive resolutions,” she said. 

Cambodia has seen a significant diminishment of media freedom in recent years, with journalists regularly facing harassment and independent  news outlets increasingly shuttered by fiat or pressure. 

Media experts told RFA they viewed Dara’s case as evidence of the excessive pressure faced by Cambodian journalists. 

“In terms of expressing views either by normal citizens or journalists, there should be a request for clarification or just issue an apology if authorities found out that such posts are not true,” said Nop Vy, executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, stressing that Dara should never have been arrested in the first place. 

Am Sam Ath, operations director of rights group Licadho, said the arrest reflected an effort to suppress free expression. 

“It is a violation of civic freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution and international legal instruments,” he said. “There shouldn’t be charges and detention.”

Last week, the court declined to release Dara on bail, despite his worsening health conditions. 

CamboJA, a local independent news outlet, reported Wednesday that Dara had faced mounting physical and mental health issues during his three weeks in jail. His lawyer, Duch Piseth, told CamboJA that Dara had begun to hallucinate when sitting too long, while his sister, Mech Choulay, said he had lost about 6 kilograms (13 pounds). 

Edited by Abby Seiff and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Khmer.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.