Bangkok: A convicted Australian child sex offender has died after spending seven years in Cambodia's harshest jail.
Giuseppe Nicolosi, 61, who insisted he was innocent of raping a four year-old girl, was pronounced dead in a state-run hospital in the Cambodian capital on Monday.
Nicolosi was serving an eight-year jail sentence in Prey Sar on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, where basic medical needs are unavailable.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said consular assistance was being proved to the family of an Australian man who died in Cambodia.
The department provided no further details, citing privacy reasons.
Meanwhile accused Australian spy James Ricketson is in declining health in Prey Sar while authorities investigate allegations of spying against him.
His family members say the 67-year-old Sydney filmmaker has high blood pressure, which is un-medicated, and that he is suffering edema, swelling of the legs and skin irritations including rashes, lice and scabies. Ricketson has pleaded to be released, saying he is innocent.
Government-aligned media outlets have accused Ricketson of being an "important spy" and linked him to a supposed conspiracy to topple Cambodia's dictator Hun Sen.
Authorities have charged him with collecting material with a view to supplying it to a "foreign state or their agents."
