‘Spying’ Aussie sent to prison

– An Australian filmmaker was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday after being convicted of espionage in Cambodia in a case that Human Rights Watch slammed as a “ludicrous charade”.

James Ricketson has been held in jail since his arrest in June last year after he flew a drone over a rally held by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was dissolved months later.

After a six-day trial, Judge Seng Leang found the 69-year-old Ricketson guilty on two charges. “We have decided to convict him for collecting harmful information that could affect national defence,” he said. –

Phnom Penh