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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodia on Friday granted royal thanks to Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, who was sentenced last month to six years in prison for spying in a trial widely criticized for his injustice.
It was not immediately clear if he had already been released from Prey Sar prison, on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh.
Grace is the latest in a series of releases of political prisoners in recent weeks by Prime Minister Hun Sen after the election victory of his party in late July.
The election, which gave the Cambodian People's Party the 125 seats in the National Assembly, was decried by Western nations and defense groups as being unfair and undemocratic because the only opposition party credible had been disbanded last year.
Hun Sen, who has been in power for 33 years, is in the habit of cracking down on his opponents when he feels threatened, then regaining his political goals and alleviating his criticism. The recent releases come as he prepares to attend the session of the US General Assembly to be held in New York this month, where he intends to defend his mandate as legitimate.
Ricketson, 69, was arrested last year after flying a drone to photograph an opposition rally. His arrest came as the Hun Sen government began a crackdown on critics and political rivals as the ruling party's prospects for the general elections seemed shaky. The opposition was firm in the 2017 local elections, relying on a surprising challenge in the 2013 general election.
FILE – In this archival photo of August 29, 2018, Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, on the right, is helped by a truckload of prisoners upon his arrival at the Phnom Penh City Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia pardoned Ricketson on Friday, September 21, 2018, after being sentenced last month to six years in prison on a charge of espionage in a lawsuit that has been widely criticized as unfair (Heng Sinith, File / Associated Press)
The pardon on Friday was signed by Senate President Say Chhum, the interim head of state in the absence of King Norodom Sihamoni, who is visiting China. Pardons are normally issued at Hun Sen's request.
Ricketson's trial has been described as a farce by his supporters, largely because prosecutors have never said who he claimed to be spying on and had not presented any evidence of possession or transmission of secrets. He had been held without bail since last June in difficult conditions.
It seems that Ricketson was targeted by the government for its sympathy with the Cambodian National Research Party, the group disbanded last year, whose activities it was filming.
Ricketson repeatedly insisted that he had no political agenda and that his work in documentary filmmaking was journalistic in nature.
His August 31 conviction has not attracted much public interest from the Australian Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Their public position was criticized, but also led to speculation that an agreement could have been reached with the Cambodian authorities for the early release of Ricketson.
Ricketson's lawyer, Kong Sam Onn, said his client would go to Phnom Penh first, then travel to Australia.
"James will return to his country of origin after his release, but later he will return to Cambodia because the letter of grace does not prevent him from returning to Cambodia," Kong Sam Onn said. However, there is no official statement guaranteeing that he will be readmitted.
Ricketson had stated at his trial that he wanted to reinstate a project he had launched before his arrest to buy land in order to resettle several poor Cambodian families who lived in a garbage dump. With several witnesses, he said he provided financial assistance to many Cambodians stricken by poverty.
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