PHNOM PENH: Australian filmmaker James Ricketson was sentenced to six years in prison by a Cambodian court on Friday (Aug 31) after being found guilty of espionage and collecting information prejudicial to national defence. The accused person was using his journalism job and helping poor Cambodians just to hide his real work, but in fact he is a spy and has been filming at the sites of the country’s security forces.”

Ricketson was arrested after flying a camera-equipped drone over a rally organized by the Cambodian National Rescue Party. On his way back to jail, after receiving the verdict, Ricketson was heard shouting “Who am I spying for?” That question was never answered in court and Ricketson repeatedly insisted that his work is not political. Judge in Cambodia convicts Australian filmmaker James Rickeston of spying and sentences him to 6 years in prison

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Judge in Cambodia convicts Australian filmmaker James Rickeston of spying and sentences him to 6 years in prison. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

Prosecutors said Ricketson, a frequent visitor of Cambodia over the past 23 years, used documentary filmmaking as a cover for espionage, though they never specified which country he was believed to be spying for. ‘EXCESSIVE CHARGES’

In a letter to Cambodia’s long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen last month, Ricketson apologized for statements to media that were disrespectful to Hun Sen.

Ricketson’s arrest came amid a wider crackdown on freedom of expression by Hun Sen’s government and his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
A court in Cambodia sentences Australian film director James Ricketson to six years in prison after he was found guilty of espionage for flying a drone at a Cambodia National Rescue Party rally.