Phuketwan Updating Report
A THAI engineer was sentenced to a long jail term by a court in Cambodia today for allegedly stealing the flight schedule of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, according to reports.
Cambodian sources said the term of imprisonment was seven years.
Siwarak Chutipong, an employee of Cambodia Air Traffic Services, was arrested by Cambodian police nearly a month ago, on charges of stealing information on the flight schedule and passing it to Thai diplomats in Phnom Penh.
Khun Siwarak said the flight details were public knowledge and therefore his actions had not been illegal.
His arrest came amid a face-off between Thailand and Cambodia over Cambodia's appointment of former Prime Minister and convicted criminal Thaksin as an economic adviser to the government of Hun Sen.
Hun Sen and Thaksin were old friends, with a similar outlook on government.
The verdict may return the simmering relationship between Thailand and Cambodia to boiling point. Both countries withdrew ambassadors, but have kept borders open.
The maximum term Khun Siwarak faced was 15 years imprisonment.
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