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Cambodia pardons Australian film-maker James Ricketson Cambodia to deport Australian film-maker James Ricketson after royal pardon
(about 20 hours later)
An Australian filmmaker jailed for espionage in Cambodia has received a royal pardon and been released, less than a month after he was sentenced to six years in prison in a case observers criticised as a farce. An Australian filmmaker who received a royal pardon from Cambodia will be deported on Saturday, immigration officials said, a day after he was released from a six-year sentence in a case Human Rights Watch has called “a ludicrous charade”.
James Ricketson, 69, was arrested in June last year after he flew a drone over a rally held by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue party (CNRP), which was effectively banned months later. Ricketson was sentenced in late August. James Ricketson, 69, was given jail time three weeks ago for “espionage and collecting harmful information that could affect national defence” by a Phnom Penh court.
“Convict James Stanforth Ricketson is pardoned,” said the royal decree, which was signed by the acting head of state, Say Chhum. It said the request for the pardon had come from the country’s prime minister, Hun Sen. He was then issued a royal pardon on Friday, after strongman premier Hun Sen requested it from the Cambodian king.
Ricketson‘s lawyer Kong Sam Onn confirmed he had been released and was now with his family. Ricketson’s son Jesse said the family was “relieved and excited” to have him back. “We will deport him today,” Keo Vanthan, spokesman for the immigration department said. “We are looking for a flight for him.”
“It has been a really tough 16 months and I’m just kind of in shock now,” Jesse said, expressing gratitude to Cambodia’s king, Norodom Sihamoni, for “bringing this nightmare to an end”. Ricketson’s lawyer Kong Sam Onn confirmed this, adding that the Australian’s visa to stay in Cambodia had expired.
A six-day trial – which featured a surprise appearance by the Hollywood director Peter Weir, who served as a character witness for his friend – ended with the court convicting Ricketson of “espionage and collecting harmful information that could affect national defence”. The embattled filmmaker had been in prison since last June, after footage emerged of him using a drone to film a rally of the now-defunct opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
The prosecution had accused Ricketson of working as a filmmaker in Cambodia for years as a front for espionage, but the verdict did not mention for which country he was alleged to have been spying. Human Rights Watch called the trial proceedings a “ludicrous charade”. His six-day trial – which rights groups have condemned as a farce – showed him to be defiant and combative, and featured a surprise appearance by Hollywood director Peter Weir who served as a character witness for his friend.
A series of activists and opposition lawmakers were freed in the weeks after July’s national election, which critics have said was neither free nor fair. The prosecution accused Ricketson of working as a filmmaker in Cambodia as a front for spying activities, but the verdict failed to name which country he was allegedly spying for.
The CNRP was dissolved in the lead-up to the poll, stamping out the only real competition faced by Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s party. The CPP took all 125 parliamentary seats. His truncated prison term came after a series of activists and opposition lawmakers were freed in the weeks following July’s national election, which critics have said was neither free nor fair.
After the vote Hun Sen, who has been in power for more than three decades, returned to a pattern of easing up on dissent. The CNRP, which had served as the sole legitimate opposition force to Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party, was dissolved in the lead-up to the controversial poll, clearing the path for the CPP to take all 125 parliament seats.
This effectively rendered Cambodia a one-party state, which the international community has decried as a death knell to democracy.
After the poll Hun Sen – who has been in power for more than three decades – returned to a pattern of easing up on dissent.
Ricketson’s pardon comes just days before Hun Sen is scheduled to travel to New York to attend the United Nations general assembly.
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