Cambodia court upholds 14-years jail for journalists over border photo

Court

A Cambodian court upheld 14-year prison sentences on Thursday for two journalists convicted of treason for posting a photo taken in a military-restricted area after a round of border clashes with Thailand, a rights group said.

Journalists Pheap Phara and Phorn Sopheap were arrested in late July after posting a photo on Facebook that appeared to show them with Cambodian soldiers at the centuries-old Ta Krabei temple, located on the disputed frontier with Thailand, according to local rights group LICADHO.

Thai media outlets later republished the image, alleging it showed unplaced landmines in the background, the group said in a statement.

The Southeast Asian nations’ decades-long border dispute erupted into several rounds of clashes last year, killing dozens of people and displacing more than a million people in July and December. Punch