The trial of alleged Australian spy James Ricketson ended Wednesday with additional charge of treason sought by prosecutors and with Judge Seng Leang reserving the Cambodian court's verdict until this Friday.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of espionage and jeopardising national defence.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Seang Sok said Ricketson had entered Cambodia to incite hatred, aiming overthrow Hun Sen and his government and to provide information to foreign states that was harmful to the country.
He also said Ricketson, 69, had used his filmmaking as a cover since 1995 for his espionage activities, citing about a dozen emails used to justify the allegations.
"He has to take responsibility before the law in regards to his own illegal activities," he said.
Ricketson talks from inside a prisoner truck upon his arrival at Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Source: AAP
He did not name any country that Ricketson allegedly spied for but sought the additional charge of treason, which judge Seng Leang said he would consider.
However, Ricketson said the prosecutor had not produced any witnesses as required by Cambodia law and that his arrest without a warrant was illegal.
He added that the notion he was a spy and communicated matters of Cambodian security to then Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull via a Gmail account was "fanciful and ludicrous".
His defence argued the evidence did not support the charge and that it was wrong to imprison a man who had brought "culture and humanity" to Cambodia's poor.
"James has done a lot of good here, nothing to do with spying," lawyer Kong Sam Oun said in regards to his charity work. "It is impossible to be a spy for 22 years."
He said Ricketson job as a journalist and filmmaker was legitimate, and that he is entitled to his personal political beliefs, which "did not make him a spy".
The Australian filmmaker is led into court for the final day of his trial. Source: AP
The trial ended after its third week and follows 14 months of detention, an ordeal which began after Ricketson flew a drone over a political rally staged by the now banned opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP).
The court has heard how Ricketson favoured the CNRP over the ruling CPP in the lead-up to and after elections in 2013 and that he had offered his services to now exiled former leader Sam Rainsy.
The CNRP was dissolved by the courts after it was accused of attempting to stage a 'colour revolution' to overthrow Hun Sen's CPP-led government.
