John Bingham wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 4:53 pm Just in case anyone doesn't know his background:

ccf wrote:Fact sheet:

Come now, this is about as far from "just the facts" as possible.
He seems to be a bit of a dick, but he should be being charged with defamation if that's what he's doing, not this bullshit spying charge.

Anyone saying "he's getting what he deserves" is missing the point of codified justice.
Why not just see if he floats?

Anyone saying "Cambodia rules" is correct, but also missing the point. These show trials serve to define boundaries, and pushing them is important, otherwise they will close in.

Do you get time in remand taken as part of time served in Cambodia? Or is that six on top?

Reaction from Ricketson's son:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2 ... ying-video

James Ricketson: the ‘spy’ who loved Cambodia, and paid for it
How a bumbling filmmaker got six years for espionage
By Luke Hunt
31 Aug 2018

Throughout his 15-month incarceration and three-week espionage trial, Australian filmmaker James Ricketson has lived under appalling conditions, locked up in Cambodia’s notorious Prey Sar prison.

That stay was extended when after a bench of three judges found him guilty of spying for “foreign states” and sentenced him to six years behind bars.

It was the latest saga in an extraordinary era in Cambodian politics that culminated in HE winning all 125 seats in the National Assembly at July elections, which were bereft of opposition and was widely discredited.

As espionage trials go Ricketson’s case was a scriptwriter’s dream; government intervention of the highest order and he enjoyed popular support at home in Australia with a petition garnering 70,000 signatures demanding his immediate release.

Hollywood arrived with acclaimed director Peter Weir testifying on his behalf, there was even a sex scandal – albeit an erroneous one – with Ricketson, a six-foot three-inch bear of a man, attempting to save impoverished families from life in Phnom Penh’s rubbish dumps.

But the reality was far different. James Ricketson is not James Bond.

What emerged from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court was a portrait of a man who struggled to make ends meet as a filmmaker, failed to distinguish between journalism and political activism, rarely heeded advice and was a hopeless do-gooder who never knew when to quit.

It was more the stuff of a Boy’s Own Adventure but the authorities took a different view and arrested Ricketson a day after he flew and filmed from a drone over an opposition rally, without a permit...
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/a ... d-cambodia

A show trial of justice in Cambodia
Australian filmmaker James Ricketson's conviction and jailing on bogus espionage charges is as shameful to Canberra as it is to Phnom Penh
By Alan Parkhouse Bangkok, September 2, 2018 5:00 PM (UTC+8)

Many of those who know Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, this writer included, have varying opinions of the man.

Some say he’s a nice old guy trying to help poor Cambodians; others say he’s a dedicated and talented documentary film maker; and quite a few others see him as an out and out pest. However, they all agree on one thing: Ricketson is not a government spy.

But that’s how Cambodia’s politicized courts see him. On August 30, a judge sentenced Ricketson to six years in jail on charges of espionage that deemed the rambling 69-year-old Australian a modern day sort of James Bond – minus the suit, hair and good looks. It ruled he worked for a foreign power to undermine the government and cause chaos in the country.
https://www.atimes.com/article/a-show-t ... -cambodia/

https://www.facebook.com/alan.parkhouse.5

I wish the attacks on Russia and the accusations regarding meddling in the election and the Skripal case/ Chemical warfare charges got such scrutiny.

He's from New England. I wonder what his take on the Yemen school bus bombing is?

James Ricketson: the ‘spy’ who loved Cambodia, and paid for it


How a bumbling filmmaker got six years for espionage
By Luke Hunt
31 Aug 2018



Cambodia,,,, Don't fall in love with her.
Like the spoilt child she is, she will not be happy till she destroys herself from within and breaks your heart.
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