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Australian filmmaker sentenced to six years in jail
[Bangkok Post] A Cambodian court sentenced an Australian filmmaker to six years in prison on Friday after finding him guilty of espionage for flying a drone over an opposition party's political rally.James Ricketson, 69, was tossed in the clink Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! last June after he was photographed flying the drone above the rally organised by the now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and staged ahead of a communal election. Ricketson was charged with espionage, although it remains unclear for whom he was spying. His family called the court sentence an "absolute tragedy". "The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has decided to convict James Ricketson and sentences him to six years in prison for espionage and collecting information that is harmful to the nation between December 2010 and June 2017," judge Seng Leang said. Ricketson, who has spent more than a year behind bars after his bail was denied, appeared in court wearing a pink prison uniform and holding a copy of the spy-thriller book The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson. Speaking in court after the verdict, Ricketson expressed disbelief. "Which country was I conducting espionage for?" he asked. "James is almost 70 and is not in good health, our family is very scared about what will happen to him in there if things take a turn for the worst," Ricketson's family said in a statement following the verdict, referring to Phnom Penh's Prey Sar prison where Ricketson has been tossed in the calaboose Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! "James is not a spy. James loves Cambodia and the Cambodian people. He is a filmmaker and a humanitarian," the family said. Posted by: Fred 2018-09-01 |
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