West Australian mining magnate Bill Clough has announced the sale of The Phnom Penh Post to a Malaysian investor following a dispute over a tax bill, raising fresh concerns over free speech in Cambodia.
Under the deal, Post Media Co Ltd - which includes The Phnom Penh Post and Post Khmer publications - will be acquired by Sivakumar G, known as Siva, for an undisclosed sum.
"The region is full of turbulence and the recent changes within Cambodia ahead of, leading up to, the upcoming elections, has put the spotlight on the Phnom Penh Post, as the last remaining truly independent media group in the country," Clough said in a statement on Saturday.
"There have been rumours flying in all directions with questions about our ongoing survival, which we hope that now we can finally dispel."
The Phnom Penh Post was once described as "the greatest little newspaper in the world" after it was established by Americans Michael Hayes and Kathleen O'Keefe in 1992, when United Nations peacekeepers arrived in Cambodia and established a framework for democracy.
It built an enviable reputation for fierce, independent journalism. Hayes sold the newspaper to Clough in 2008.
However, independent media has suffered in recent times amid a recent crackdown by the government, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, which has banned broadcasts by Radio Free Asia, Voice of America and Voice of Democracy.
The Cambodia Daily closed in September last year after it was hit with a multimillion-dollar tax bill. The front page of the newspaper's final edition was headlined: 'Descent into outright dictatorship'.
On the same weekend, opposition leader Kem Sokha was charged with treason and jailed amid accusations by human rights groups that the government was shutting down any form of criticism ahead of elections due on July 29.
Online news outlet AEC News in March said the Phnom Penh Post would need a massive cash injection within 60 days and quoted computer hackers as saying Post Media Co Ltd had been hit with a tax penalty of $4.9 million.
Sources close to the newspaper confirmed the tax bill and said Clough "went ballistic" over the penalty, threatening to close the 26-year-old newspaper unless the tax department backed off.
Nathan Thompson, President of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia, said the paper had been "a stalwart voice of independent journalism in a country tumbling down press freedom ratings".
He was referring to the latest report by Reporters Sans Frontieres, ranking Cambodia at 142nd spot on its annual press freedom index. It had plunged 10 places in the rankings over the previous year.
The last remaining English language daily is The Khmer Times, also owned by a Malaysian investor, which has been sharply criticised for being strongly pro-government in its reporting and editorials.
Clough added the newspaper had been challenged by a "worldwide decline in market share for newspaper advertising" while requiring continued investment in digital technology.
