Hong Kong man detained for flying drone over royal palace in Cambodia
PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 November, 2015, 12:01am
UPDATED : Monday, 09 November, 2015, 12:01am
Emily Tsang and Xinhua
A Hong Kong man flew a drone over the royal palace in Phnom Penh. Photo: Reuters
A 40-year-old Hong Kong man who was arrested in Cambodia for flying a drone over the royal palace in Phnom Penh has been freed, according to a senior police officer in the country.
The man, surnamed Wong, was a tourist. He was arrested on Saturday after he was found flying a remote-controlled miniature aircraft.
He was caught when the unmanned aerial vehicle flew over the royal palace.
"We decided to release him on Saturday evening after we found that he had no bad purposes in flying the drone over the royal palace," said Sieng Sen, director of the Interior Ministry's Internal Security Department.
"We educated him about the ban on drones in Phnom Penh and he signed a paper promising not to do it again," Sieng Sen said.
Cambodian authorities have banned the flying of drones in the capital without prior approval since February, citing privacy and security concerns.
The move came days after a German tourist flew his camera-toting drone into the royal palace, a complex of buildings built in the 1860s in the centre of the capital.
The device was reportedly spotted by the queen mother, Norodom Monineath, as she performed her daily exercise routine in the courtyard.
The German was detained and interrogated over the weekend before being freed and leaving for Thailand.
