As Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet visits Geneva and Brussels this week, the European Union faces a defining moment. At a time when independent journalism in Cambodia is under intensifying attack, diplomatic engagement without accountability risks signaling indifference to the erosion of fundamental freedoms.
In recent months, independent journalists including Mech Dara, Duong Akhara, Lay Socheat, and Phorn Sopheap have been arrested or charged in connection with their reporting on cybercrime networks and other matters of public interest. The use of charges such as “disinformation,” “incitement,” and “violation of privacy” bears the hallmarks of a broader strategy: the instrumentalization of criminal law to intimidate, criminalize, and silence investigative journalism.
These cases are not isolated incidents. They form part of a systematic campaign against independent media — including judicial harassment, forced closures of outlets, and the cultivation of a pervasive climate of fear. The pattern is clear: critical reporting is being treated as a criminal offense.
The European Union has consistently positioned itself as a global defender of human rights and freedom of expression. Allowing high-level meetings to proceed without clearly addressing these violations would undermine that commitment and weaken the EU’s credibility as a values-based actor.
This visit must serve as a platform for principled engagement and accountability. Silence in the face of repression will be interpreted as tacit approval. Clear and public action, by contrast, would reaffirm the EU’s commitment to defending fundamental freedoms worldwide.
This is a credibility test. Press freedom must not be sidelined for political convenience or economic interests. The European Union must take a firm, principled, and unequivocal stand — and it must do so now.
