SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Chhoeung Chheng, a journalist covering environmental issues for local online news outlet Kampuchea Aphiwat News, has died of his injuries after being shot in Siem Reap province on Dec. 4 by a suspected illegal logger.

Chheng was rushed to a commune health clinic with a gunshot wound to the abdomen before being transferred to Siem Reap Provincial Hospital where, in the early hours of Dec. 7, he died of his wounds.

The attack took place at around 6 p.m. near Trapeang Phluoh village, Pongro Leu commune, Chi Kraeng district, Siem Reap province, close to Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary, where Chheng and a colleague, Moeun Ny, had been traveling at the time.

“We’d traveled from toward Trapeang Raing, which is a conservation area under ​​the Ministry of Environment, to take photos of illegal [forest] activities for producing news,” Ny told Mongabay.

The pair had been traveling toward Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected forest that lost 72% of its primary forest cover between 2002 and 2023, according to Global Forest Watch data.

Much of that deforestation was due to economic land concessions that saw some 70,000 hectares of the sanctuary cleared to make way for rubber plantations. What remains of the forest has been further decimated by new encroachments, but Chheng was reportedly shot around the border of the wildlife sanctuary, very close to Trapeang Phluoh village.

“But because of the sandy terrain, we could not go further, so we went back,” Ny said. “On the way, we accidentally met the perpetrator; he drove a tractor and he asked us why we’d stopped at this area.

“I told Chheng, it’s 6 p.m. now, and this is a conservation area, we shouldn’t stay too late, but as we were heading home, the perpetrator shot Chheng.”

Authorities arrested Sy Luey on Dec. 5 in connection with the shooting, with Siem Reap Police Commissioner Huot Sothy’s crime report noting that the suspect confessed to shooting Chheng with a homemade gun.

Such weapons are relatively common across Cambodia and are often used for poaching, but loggers have been known to use them to scare off any would-be pursuers.

“While returning from the farm, the suspect observed Chheng and his friend,” Sothy wrote in his report. “Then he drove his tractor past them for about 100 meters [330 feet] before attempting to hide where he shot Chheng as he thought that Chheng came to collect money.”

According to the police report, Luey alleged that Chheng attempted to blackmail him with photos of illegal activity, although the police report notes there was no evidence suggesting Chheng had demanded money from Luey on Dec. 4. Ny, who accompanied Chheng on the day of the shooting, also denied the allegation.

According to Run Sareth, editor at Kampuchea Aphiwat News, Chheng had received threats before, but he said he didn’t know how many had been made in the five years that Chheng had worked for him.

“Chheng was a good man, I want the law to punish the perpetrators as severely as possible, to find justice for him and to make the perpetrator respect the law,” he said.

Luey was charged with attempted murder on Dec. 6, prior to Chheng’s death on Dec. 7. Yin Srang, a spokesperson for the Siem Reap Municipal Court, said that because the case is still under investigation and a trial date hasn’t yet been set, he couldn’t provide any further information on whether Luey will be face murder charges.

Journalists needed in fight against climate change

Chheng’s killing has prompted a flurry of statements from local media and civil society groups, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Cambodian Ministry of Information.

Ministry spokesperson Tep Asnarith was quoted as saying that “this was an unfortunate and regrettable incident that occurred to a journalist in Siem Reap province.” In the ministry’s statement, Asnarith extended his condolences to the family of the deceased, while also claiming that Cambodia provides a favorable environment for journalists to work in, so long as they work within the law.

Cambodia ranked 151st out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2024 Press Freedom Index, a drop from its position of 147th in 2023. The index’s data show a steep decline in press freedoms since 2016, when Cambodia ranked 128th out of 180 countries. The ongoing crackdown against independent media that began in 2017 has seen independent outlets such as the Cambodia Daily and Voice of Democracy shuttered, while the Phnom Penh Post was bought by government-friendly owners in a reportedly coerced sale. The silencing of critical media has occurred in tandem with increased repression of civil society more broadly.

The government has vehemently disagreed with the international framing of the stifling of journalism, deferring to its own survey of media workers as proof that the repeated closure of outlets, numerous arrests, and ongoing harassment of journalists don’t constitute a threat to the free press in Cambodia. These denials make little difference to the journalists on the ground, as was seen earlier this year in the cases of prominent investigative journalist Mech Dara and local environmental journalist Ouk Mao, both of whom faced legal reprisals widely believed to be in retaliation for their work.

“The forest might be destroyed at a faster pace without the local journalists,” said Ny, who vowed he would continue the work that had claimed Chheng’s life.

But while Ny said he intends to continue his journalistic endeavors, the killing of a journalist in Cambodia — the first since 2014, when Taing Try was killed while investigating illegal logging — is part of a broader trend in which covering environmental issues puts journalists in the firing line.

“Environmental journalism is an increasingly dangerous and sometimes deadly profession in Asia, which is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions,” said Beh Lih Yi, Asia coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists. “We have seen an uptick in cases of journalists facing harassment, violence and sometimes death threats simply for reporting on environmental destruction, or the devastating impacts of climate change on local communities.”

Chheng’s death, she said, underscores the threats to journalists seeking to cover issues such as logging amid increasing climate-related catastrophes across Asia. Beh pointed to Myanmar, the Philippines and India as examples where journalists investigating environmental issues have been targeted by their governments.

“The Cambodian authorities and other governments in Asia must ensure journalists can freely and safely report on environmental and climate issues,” Beh said in an email to Mongabay. “Holding powerful actors to account is vital in the global fight against climate change and environmental degradation — this is essential to protect our planet for future generations.”

Disclosure: As president of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia, reporter Gerald Flynn helped to coordinate the writing, fact-checking and distribution of the joint statement calling for justice for Chhoeung Chheng.

Banner image: Chhoeung Chheng attending the Siem Reap Water Festival in November 2024. Image courtesy of Facebook.