[2] He is the owner and director of Phnom Penh's Beehive Radio, which the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described in 2012 as "one of Cambodia's few independent news outlets".

[4] His twenty-year prison sentence for the latter was protested by human rights groups, and US President Barack Obama expressed concerns about the case in a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen.

[7] The station is one of the few to address controversial topics, including "Cambodian civil society, the fight against HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality and human trafficking, campaigns for women's rights and gender equality, political and economic transparency, equitable and sustainable development, labor rights, environmental protection, the rule of law, and electoral education and election monitoring.

[10] In January 2003, riots broke out in Phnom Penh after a Cambodian newspaper incorrectly reported that a Thai actress had stated Angkor Wat properly belonged to Thailand.

[17] CPJ condemned the arrest as part of a "broad crackdown on freedom of expression",[16] and Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience.

[18] In late January 2006, Sonando was granted bail ahead of a visit by US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill.

[20] In mid-2012, Beehive Radio reported on an International Court of Justice complaint against Prime Minister Hun Sen blaming him for the 2010 Phnom Penh stampede, in which 347 people were killed.

[6] Members of Beehive Radio and the Association of Democrats protested in front of Phnom Penh's royal palace on 23 July.

[8] CPJ called for Sonado's immediate release, stating that Hun Sen had "a well-worn history of leveling unsubstantiated anti-state charges against journalists to stifle criticism of the administration.

"[4] Human Rights Watch said that "Sonando's arrest on the heels of [US Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton's visit is a brazen signal that Hun Sen thinks that the US wants his cooperation on other matters so much that he isn't afraid to lower the boom on his critics".

[25] The International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture issued a joint statement noting that they were "gravely concerned" about the charges and calling for Sonando's immediate release.

[28] In November, US President Barack Obama raised concerns about the case during a meeting with Hun Sen.[29] French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also called for Sonando to be released.

[32] Amnesty International called the ruling "a positive step for freedom of expression in the country", but added that "Mam Sonando should never have been imprisoned in the first place, and the convictions that stand appear baseless.

[34] In January 2014, Mam Sonando organized a mass demonstration, which demanded the government to expand his radio reach and open a TV station.

The Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith denied the permission for the expansion but Mam Sonando told reporters the denial is unconstitutional.