Dara was detained after being stopped at a highway toll booth on the border of Koh Kong and Sihanouk province in south-west Cambodia on Monday.
A relative in the car with Dara told the BBC that they were waiting to go through the booth when one military police car, accompanied by five other cars, pulled up alongside them.
“We got him,” one said while they were detaining Dara, his relative recounted, adding that Dara told his family not to worry as he was being taken away.
Local rights group Licadho reported that Dara messaged them, explaining that he had been arrested, before his phone was taken away.
His whereabouts were then not known for almost 24 hours, when he appeared in court in the capital Phnom Penh and was charged with incitement to commit a felony. He was sent to pre-trial detention and faces between six months and two years in jail if found guilty.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Y Rin told the BBC that the charges were related to five social media posts made in September, but did not elaborate.
In a statement, the court said the Facebook posts showed “edited pictures” of a “tourist attraction” which it said were “fake”.
Is said the posts were “full of ill-intention – inciting, causing anger among the public that was intended to make people think bad of the government”.
The vague charge of incitement is often used in Cambodia against government critics.
One of Dara’s relatives, who also works as a journalist but requested anonymity due to fear of reprisals, said Dara had been denied access to a lawyer and they were “so concerned” about his safety.
“The authorities didn’t show us any official arrest warrant or court papers. I’ve lost hope, I’m so concerned about practising journalism in Cambodia now,” the relative said.
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