PHNOM PENH — An award-winning Cambodian journalist arrested over social media posts was freed on bail Thursday after pro-government media released a prison video showing him apologising to the country’s leaders.
Police arrested Mech Dara on September 30 after stopping a car carrying him and his family from Sihanoukville, a coastal city where many suspected cyber scam operations take place.
Dara is renowned for his reporting on human trafficking in Cambodia’s notorious cyber scam industry and his arrest on charges of inciting social disorder drew international condemnation.
He was freed on bail from a prison near Phnom Penh on Thursday and said he would take a break from journalism while he fights the charges against him.
“I thank everyone who helped get me out of jail on bail,” he told reporters.
He said he needed to take time to recover mentally and physically from his detention.
“My health is weak. My brain is not working yet,” he said.
“I hope that I can continue my career to serve the public.”
His successful bail application came less than a day after government-friendly media outlet Fresh News released a video of him apologising.
The footage, released late Wednesday, showed Dara dressed in an orange prison uniform, hands pressed together in supplication and apparently kneeling.
In the minute-long video, Dara apologises to Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen and his son Hun Manet, the current prime minister, saying his posts contained “false information that is harmful to the leaders and the country”.
Dara also said he would stop posting material that is “harmful” to them and Cambodia.
In a separate statement, released along with the video, Dara asked the court to release him and for the charges against him to be dropped.
