Photo: Ieng Sary's house is located in Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamkamorn, Phnom Penh, police prevents a foreigner from entering Ieng Sary's house(L) and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal's judges(top).
Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Ex-foreign Minister, Wife, Formally Charged By Cambodian Genocide Tribunal
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Ieng Sary, who served as foreign minister in Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime, and his wife were formally charged with crimes against humanity by the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal, the court said Tuesday (13 Nov).
Ieng Sary was charged additionally with war crimes, the tribunal said in a statement that was dated Monday (12 Nov) but released Tuesday.
He and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who served as the regime's social affairs minister, said they needed time to prepare their defense and asked that their pretrial detention hearing be delayed until Wednesday (14 Nov). They would be held in police custody until then, the statement said.
The arrests came almost three decades after the Khmer Rouge fell from power, with many fearing the aging suspects might die before they ever see a courtroom. Trials are expected to begin next year.
The U.N.-assisted tribunal was created last year after seven years of contentious negotiations between the United Nations and Cambodia.
Ieng Sary and his wife were members of the inner circle of the Khmer Rouge. They were French-educated like its charismatic leader, the late Pol Pot, whose radicalism turned the country into a virtual charnel house. The connection was linked by marriage: Ieng Thirith's sister Khieu Ponnary was Pol Pot's first wife.
Ieng Sary "promoted, instigated, facilitated, encouraged and/or condoned the perpetration of the crimes" when the Khmer Rouge held power, according to a 18 July document presented by the tribunal's prosecutors to its investigating judges.
The document said there was evidence of Ieng Sary's participation in crimes which included planning, directing and coordinating Khmer Rouge "policies of forcible transfer, forced labor and unlawful killings."
The alleged crimes of his wife, Ieng Thirith, who is believed to be 75, include her participation in "planning, direction, coordination and ordering of widespread purges ... and unlawful killing or murder of staff members from within the Ministry of Social Affairs," the prosecutors said.
"Cambodia is moving toward closing the black chapter in its history," read the front-page headline of Rasmei Kampuchea (Light of Cambodia) newspaper.
Ieng Sary, like his former colleagues, has "shamelessly" denied any knowledge about killings under his regime, the Kampuchea Thmey (New Cambodia) newspaper said in an editorial.
"Now the opportunity has arrived for them to reveal the secrets or try to cleanse themselves of any allegations," it said.
"The Cambodian people, while craving for justice, also find it to be no less important to know why they (Khmer Rouge leaders) created a genocidal regime," the newspaper added. (By KER MUNTHIT/ AP)
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Ieng Sary, who served as foreign minister in Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime, and his wife were formally charged with crimes against humanity by the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal, the court said Tuesday (13 Nov).
Ieng Sary was charged additionally with war crimes, the tribunal said in a statement that was dated Monday (12 Nov) but released Tuesday.
He and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who served as the regime's social affairs minister, said they needed time to prepare their defense and asked that their pretrial detention hearing be delayed until Wednesday (14 Nov). They would be held in police custody until then, the statement said.
The arrests came almost three decades after the Khmer Rouge fell from power, with many fearing the aging suspects might die before they ever see a courtroom. Trials are expected to begin next year.
The U.N.-assisted tribunal was created last year after seven years of contentious negotiations between the United Nations and Cambodia.
Ieng Sary and his wife were members of the inner circle of the Khmer Rouge. They were French-educated like its charismatic leader, the late Pol Pot, whose radicalism turned the country into a virtual charnel house. The connection was linked by marriage: Ieng Thirith's sister Khieu Ponnary was Pol Pot's first wife.
Ieng Sary "promoted, instigated, facilitated, encouraged and/or condoned the perpetration of the crimes" when the Khmer Rouge held power, according to a 18 July document presented by the tribunal's prosecutors to its investigating judges.
The document said there was evidence of Ieng Sary's participation in crimes which included planning, directing and coordinating Khmer Rouge "policies of forcible transfer, forced labor and unlawful killings."
The alleged crimes of his wife, Ieng Thirith, who is believed to be 75, include her participation in "planning, direction, coordination and ordering of widespread purges ... and unlawful killing or murder of staff members from within the Ministry of Social Affairs," the prosecutors said.
"Cambodia is moving toward closing the black chapter in its history," read the front-page headline of Rasmei Kampuchea (Light of Cambodia) newspaper.
Ieng Sary, like his former colleagues, has "shamelessly" denied any knowledge about killings under his regime, the Kampuchea Thmey (New Cambodia) newspaper said in an editorial.
"Now the opportunity has arrived for them to reveal the secrets or try to cleanse themselves of any allegations," it said.
"The Cambodian people, while craving for justice, also find it to be no less important to know why they (Khmer Rouge leaders) created a genocidal regime," the newspaper added. (By KER MUNTHIT/ AP)
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