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Cambodia has granted a pardon to an Australian film-maker jailed in August on espionage charges for six years, a court in Phnom Penh said on Friday.
James Ricketson was freed from prison later in the day and Cambodia's immigration department said he would be deported back to Australia.
The 69-year-old was arrested in June 2017 after he was photographed flying a drone above a rally organised by the now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party before communal elections.
The film-maker, who has been visiting Cambodia for more than 20 years, producing documentaries about the country and its people, was charged with espionage.
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Mr Ricketson was released from prison at 5pm, said Be Tea Leng, the deputy director of Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison, where Mr Ricketson had been jailed.
“We are happy. We are grateful for the royal pardon. It’s the best news ever,” Jamie Ricketson, one of Mr Ricketson’s sons, told reporters.
Uk Heisela, investigation chief at Cambodia’s immigration department, said Mr Ricketson would be deported back to Australia.
“We will deport him tonight because he committed a crime in this country,” Uk Heisela told Reuters. – Reuters