Cambodia charges 68-year-old Australian man with espionage after 'flying a drone over an opposition rally'

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An Australian man is facing up to 10-years imprisonment in Cambodia after he allegedly flew a drone over an opposition rally.

James Ricketson, a 68-year-old filmmaker, has been accused of espionage by authorities in the country.

If convicted under article 446 of Cambodia’s Penal Code he could be sentenced to between five and 10 years behind bars for “receiving or collecting information, processes, objects, documents, computerised data or files, with a view to supplying them to a foreign state or its agents, which are reliable to prejudice the national defence.”

He was arrested after he was seen flying a drone over a gathering of members from the CNRP, the country’s main opposition political party, according to local media reports.

Held in “pre-trial detention” at the Prey Sar prison in the capital of Phnom Penh, he was eventually charged with “collecting information prejudicial to national security.”

The crime is listed under the treason and espionage section.

Lou Rabo, the deputy municipal police chief in charge of immigration, told the Australian Associated Press that he was arrested after failing to immediately produce a passport.

“He didn't respond about where he lives," he said. "Under questioning, he didn't’t reply, meaning he was living in our country illegally, therefore we took him to the office.”

Cambodian Legal expert Sok Sam Oeun told Cambodia Daily: “It’s assumed guilt. With any information, we can arrest; we can detain. Our system is like that.”

Mr Oeun has advised Mr Ricketson to find a “good” lawyer to represent him.

Mr Ricketson has been making films since the 1970s, and has been a loud critic of the country's government, recently calling it a “dictatorship” in a Facebook post.

The misuse of the justice system by legal authorities has increased in the lead up to the 2017/2018 elections, with security forces harassing and punishing civil society and silent critics of the regime, according to a recent report by Amnesty International.

Human rights defenders have been systematically arrested and held in pre-trial detention centres, it added.