The sale of Cambodia’s longest-running independent newspaper to a Malaysian businessman has been denounced by former staff and trade unions for leaving the country without a free press.

Some 13 journalists announced their resignation from the Phnom Penh Post last week after its new owner requested an article be taken down which confirmed his links to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The former editor in chief Kay Kimsong was asked to remove the article which was critical of Sivakumar Ganapathy’s acquisition of the paper and was fired on 7 May after he refused to do so.