Jounalist Youn Chhiv has called for the protection of land rights in Koh Kong province. (Photo from Facebook "យួន ឈីវ")

Today the Koh Kong Provincial Court convicted Youn Chhiv, the publisher of Koh Kong Hot News, of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. Less than 72 hours after he was detained, he was sentenced to one year in prison.

The conviction followed an instruction by Minister of National Defense, General Tea Banh, to investigate Youn Chhiv over allegedly false information he posted about the Koh Kong deputy governor’s involvement in a land dispute in the province.

Youn Chhiv was summoned by the Botum Sakor district police and presented himself for questioning on Tuesday. He was made to write a letter of apology to the deputy governor and agreed to remove an article posted on his media outlet’s Facebook page before the case was sent to the court yesterday. The case went to trial today, without a judicial investigation being opened, on the grounds that he was allegedly caught in the act of committing the crime (in flagrante delicto).

Cambodia’s 1995 Press Law provides legal remedies to address concerns about false information published by journalists. Instead of using this law, authorities have deliberately wielded criminal law in order to arbitrarily imprison the journalist in its ongoing crackdown on Cambodia’s press.

Youn Chhiv has faced repeated harassment over the last decade, including death threats, threats of violence and judicial harassment for his work.