Kong Mas, an activist from the Supreme Court dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arrested in Phnom Penh on Wednesday for incitement and allegedly disseminating fake news.

Ministry of Interior spokesman General Khieu Sopheak said the action was taken after the Phnom Penh municipal court issued an arrest warrant. “He had both written and circulated fakes news and was guilty of incitement.”

Sopheak added that Kong Mas, a resident of Svay Rieng province, committed the offences before the 2018 national election.

He said authorities saw inflammatory pictures Mas distributed locally, as well as around 100,000 leaflets about his work.

“We do not think this was a case of acceptable and normal freedom of expression,” Sopheak said.