Australian filmmaker James Ricketson describes packed like sardines alongside paedophiles murderers

Rats, roaches and an ‘overpowering’ smell of urine: Australian filmmaker James Ricketson describes how he was ‘packed like sardines’ alongside paedophiles and murderers during 14-month stint in one of Cambodia’s worst prisons

  • Mr Ricketson has described the squalid conditions he endured in Cambodian jail
  • He was packed beside murderers & rapists for 14 months with worsening health
  • The filmmaker has since received a pardon by the Cambodian government 

Australian filmmaker James Ricketson has described how he was ‘packed like sardines’ alongside paedophiles and murderers during his time in a Cambodian prison. 

Mr Ricketson, 69, was accused of spying and sentenced to six years in a notorious Cambodian jail. 

He was pardoned by the Cambodian government in September after serving 14 months of his sentence, and was able to return to Australia. 

Australian filmmaker James Ricketson (pictured) has described how he was ‘packed like sardines’ alongside paedophiles and murderers during his time in a Cambodian prison

Mr Ricketson, 69, was accused of spying and sentenced to six years in a notorious Cambodian jail

Mr Ricketson, 69, was accused of spying and sentenced to six years in a notorious Cambodian jail

He was pardoned by the Cambodian government in September after serving 14 months of his sentence, and was able to return to Australia

He was pardoned by the Cambodian government in September after serving 14 months of his sentence, and was able to return to Australia

He has revealed the horrifying conditions in which he lived during his time behind bars from the safety of his Palm Beach home, in an interview with News Corp. 

Mr Ricketson said he was ‘packed like sardines’ alongside some of the world’s worst criminals in Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar jail, and had to endure squalid conditions. 

According to Mr Ricketson, the stench of stale urine in the prison was ‘overpowering’ as the tank holding water to flush toilets often ran out.

Each prisoner was only allocated one metre square of space in the cell, the floor of which was crawling with rats and cockroaches. 

Living in the extreme, unhygienic conditions caused Mr Ricketson to deteriorate in health and lose a significant 20kg.

He has revealed the horrifying conditions in which he lived during his time behind bars from the safety of his Palm Beach home

He has revealed the horrifying conditions in which he lived during his time behind bars from the safety of his Palm Beach home

Mr Ricketson said he was 'packed like sardines' alongside paedophiles, murderers and rapists in Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar jail, and had to endure squalid conditions

Mr Ricketson said he was ‘packed like sardines’ alongside paedophiles, murderers and rapists in Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar jail, and had to endure squalid conditions

Almost three months on from his release, the filmmaker continues to suffer from body aches and chronic headaches. 

Despite his ordeal, he is looking forward to a Christmas spent with his son and adopted daughter. 

Mr Ricketson was arrested in June last year after flying a drone without a permit over a political rally in the lead up to an election.

The arrest came after Prime Minister Hun Sen’s leadership began to crackdown on political rivals and critics.

The ruling party won the recent general July election by a landslide and numerous political prisoners have since been released.

Pardons are typically issued at the request of Prime Minister Hun Sen who has been power for 33 years.

Mr Ricketson, who has been filming documentaries in the country for the past 20 years, was intending to use the drone footage in a film about street kids but the government believed the footage could threaten the country’s national security.

Mr Ricketson was arrested in June last year after flying a drone without a permit over a political rally in the lead up to an election

Mr Ricketson was arrested in June last year after flying a drone without a permit over a political rally in the lead up to an election

 

 



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