AN AUSTRALIAN filmmaker accused of spying in Cambodia has told a Phnom Penh court that flying a drone without a permit was an offence but he denied all allegations of espionage.

“What has happened here I think is an understandable misunderstanding,” James Ricketson, 68, said in a court appearance in the Cambodian capital on Tuesday.

Mr Ricketson also said it was “very naughty of me” to fly a drone without a permit and that he understood why the authorities were concerned.

His case has been linked to the dissolution of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party amid a crackdown on dissent in Cambodia.

Ricketson told journalists outside the court: “I am hopeful now that the investigating judge will realise after looking at all the evidence, he will say, yes, you flew a drone without a permit but no, you are not a spy.”

Ricketson, who arrived in court shackled and wearing prison orange overalls, was arrested in June and charged with “collecting information prejudicial to national security” after flying a drone over a political rally.

He faces five to 10 years behind bars if convicted.