Today is Press Freedom Day. It is also the third anniversary of VOD English.
We remain committed to strong, independent journalism — regardless of pressures. Below, we’ve collected some of our best photography from the year, as well as a list of some of the restrictions we’ve faced.
Every member of the staff has faced aggressive threats or harassment from authorities in the past year:
- Bag and body searched, and received inappropriate comments, at NagaWorld protests.
- Blocked from leaving a land dispute area near Boeng Tompun and made to delete photos.
- Detained for taking photos from a public street in Sihanoukville.
- Restricted from standing at or taking photos on the road near the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
- Threatened with being locked in a property and having dogs attack them.
- Blocked from leaving a NagaWorld protest and threatened with detention unless photos were deleted from cameras.
- Questioned over documentation, including having all pages of a passport photographed, and being told to get a “mission letter” to cover the NagaWorld protests.
Our interns have faced similar problems:
- Grabbed at a NagaWorld protest and pushed toward a detention bus.
- Blocked from taking video outside the Siem Reap provincial hall.
- Stopped from taking photos at an environmentalists’ protest, and called an “NGO dog” (chkai angkar).
We’ve counted 16 separate incidents at the hands of state authorities off the top of our heads, though harassment outside the municipal court and at NagaWorld protests additionally happens nearly every time we go.
We are grateful for your readership and support.
