A 49-year-old journalist reportedly investigating illegal logging in Kratie province was shot dead early Sunday morning after he and five other journalists went to investigate reports of illegal logging. Within hours, police arrested three men – a commune police chief, a military police officer and a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) soldier – for the murder, officials said. The murder follows two other similar cases in Cambodia from 2012. The director of the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies, said there are many freelance reporters based in the provinces who investigate illegal activity and often work independently, which can leave them vulnerable. While some reporters in the provinces, often unsalaried, are tempted to betray their journalistic ethics and profit from the information they dig up, journalists who refuse to be bought off run the real risk of being framed – or attacked – when they uncover a crime.

Cambodia has the 5th fastest rate of deforestation in the world. By law, the government have to put any wood that is seized from illegal logging activity up for auction with the proceeds deposited in the state treasury. However these auctions are not transparent, and corruption is rife. Illegal wood is often sold to government officials at cheaper than market prices, which actually promotes further illegal logging activity. The investigative report highlights cases of corruption and the attempts to stop the trade of illegally sourced wood by NGOs.