PHNOM PENH, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Friday gave amnesty to Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, who had been jailed in the country since June last year in a spying case, according to a Royal Decree.
In the royal decree, the country's Acting Head of State Samdech Say Chhum said he granted a pardon to convict James Ricketson, 69, who was convicted on Aug. 31 of spying and collecting information that could jeopardize national security and was sentenced to six years in prison.
The pardon was made at the request of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen after Ricketson apologized for his mistake.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Real Sophin on Friday ordered the director of the Prey Sar Prison to free Ricketson after receiving the royal decree, according to a warrant of release for the Australian filmmaker.
Ricketson was arrested on June 3, 2017 in Phnom Penh while flying a drone illegally to capture images of a rally by the court-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
He was charged with collecting information which could endanger Cambodia's national security with the intent to pass it on to foreign entities.
