Australian film maker and alleged spy James Ricketson is a good man who helps the poor and is not involved in politics, a Phnom Penh court has been told.
Giving evidence before three judges on Monday, Chab Thy said she had known Ricketson for more than 20 years, since she was about 10.
"I was sleeping on the street with a bottle of water and a bunch of bananas," she said.
Chab Thy said Ricketson had funded her schooling and later paid for the education of her own children. He often gave food to children scavenging on the city's rubbish dumps and helped out with the rent.
"My family stopped begging," she said, adding Ricketson's help had enabled them to become self sufficient after setting up a food stall selling chickens and peaches.
Often he gave her as much as $US110 ($A150) a week. He also filmed her for Australian-funded documentaries he made about poverty in Cambodia.
"He's a very good man," she said, adding Ricketson had become her godfather after her father died.
Judge Seng Leang told the court Ricketson's alleged crimes were committed between 1995 and June 2017, when he was arrested.
Prosecutors allege he was spying for a foreign government, a charge he denies.
His case has been tied to the banned opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party, but Chab Thy said Ricketson never discussed politics and once told her to vote for the party of her choice.
Dressed in an orange prison jump suit Ricketson seemed in better spirits following last week's appearance by acclaimed Australian director Peter Weir who testified as a character witness.
"Hopefully today the prosecutor will present some evidence about which country I've been spying for," Ricketson said as he walked handcuffed into the courtroom.
The 69-year-old said he retired in 2014 and was asked by the court to explain how many Cambodians he funded and where his money came from.
He said he had made three feature films since 1973 and between 25 and 30 hours of documentaries and television programming, while in lean years he supplemented his income by driving a taxi from his Sydney home in Palm Beach, which he rented.
"I could go three to four years without earning any money at all then perhaps earn half a million dollars US the following year working on a television series," the court heard.
Ricketson said he gave money to Chab Thy and her family and he also helped other people.
That money came from an inheritance he received after his father died.
Family sources said outside the court the money was inherited about 10 years ago and was a "modest" sum that enabled Ricketson to support himself while making small donations in Cambodia as he saw fit.
"I believe a good education, particularly with girls, is the only way to break the cycle of poverty," Ricketson added.
Additionally, he planned to raise funding to build housing for 18 families who scavenged off the Phnom Penh rubbish dump at a cost of $US140,000 ($A191,000).
"But my arrest and my 14 months in prison has made it impossible to do that," he said.
The trial was adjourned until Thursday.
Australian Associated Press
