Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Sen has ordered the shutdown of one of the country’s latest independent media outfits, the Voice of Democracy (VOD), after a damning report. 

This came barely a few months before the country’s election fixed for July. 

“The news outlet (VOD) seriously breached journalistic professionalism by affecting the fame and prestige of the government due to not running any correction in accordance with Press Law,” letter from Cambodia’s information ministry said. 

The order was in response to VOD’s reporting on Cambodia agreeing to send $100,000 in humanitarian aid to Turkey after last week’s devastating earthquake.

The media outfit reported that the prime minister’s son, Hun Manet, signed the aid order on behalf of Cambodia’s leader. 

Although, Mr Sen later denied the story and demanded an apology from the media outlet. 

Two different letters of “apologies,” expressing regret and requesting forgiveness for unintentional wrongdoing were sent by the VOD to Mr Sen. 

The media outfit also published a follow-up story, stating that his son, Mr Manet had denied signing the order, after the apology letter.  

Mr Manet is the deputy commander-in-chief of the Cambodian army, but foreign aid packages can only be signed off by the prime minister. 

Mr Sen refused to accept the outfit’s apology but instead, cancelled its licence. 

In his Facebook post on Monday, Mr Sen said his order to close the media outlet stood. The 70-year-old is one of the world’s longest-serving authoritarian leaders, having ruled Cambodia since 1985.

He is currently serving a sixth term as prime minister in what is effectively a one-party state, having forced several opposition politicians into jail or exile in recent years.

Many advocates and human rights groups in the country, have continued to condemn the action of the country’s prime minister, saying VOD’s loss was a major blow to the nation’s limited press.

Some of them said it was the main remaining news organisation in the country doing hard-hitting journalism after a major crackdown on civil expression in 2017 and 2018.

Following the prime minister’s order, Cambodian internet service providers and mobile operators have already blocked access to VOD’s news websites in English and Khmer. 

Ith Sothoeuth, media director at the Cambodian Centre for Independent Media, which oversees VOD, said the action of the prime minister shut down “credible and reliable” news for the public.

“We are hopeful that this is not the end of everything yet. We will try our best to work with relevant stakeholders. Hopefully, the solution will be realized soon,” Mr Ith said. 

The United States Embassy in Phnom Penh also raised concerns over Mr Sen’s decision for revoking the licence of the media organisation. 

The embassy in a statement said it was “deeply troubled by the abrupt decision. For more than 20 years, VOD has provided objective, fact-based reporting on issues that serve the interests of the Cambodian people,” adding that “we urge Cambodian authorities to revisit this decision.”

Founded in 2003, VOD had taken on big issues, including deforestation, cyber scams, and a repressive political space in the lead-up to the 2022 local elections.

In the past year, VOD published dozens of articles on a people trafficking operation inside Cambodia.

In September 2017, the Cambodia Daily newspaper was also forced to close after the government ordered it to pay a $6.3 million (£4.9 million) tax bill.