Interview with Khieu Samphan After Ieng Sary's Arrest- Final Part

[Editor's note: Three hours before he suffered an apparent stroke Tuesday (12th November), Khieu Samphan gave a 20-minute phone interview to Mr. Heng Reaksmey of VOA Khmer. He was taken to a Phnom Penh hospital Wednesday, and has not talked to the media since his arrival. What follows is part four of a four-part series detailing Tuesday's interview.]

Heng Reaksmey(HR): Mr. Khieu Samphan, how can the trials of the KR leaders help the Cambodian people? And in your view, what can Cambodia achieve after these trials finished?

Samphan: Like I said before, it was the wish of Cambodia and the international community that want to set up this Tribunal to act as a role model for Cambodia to become a state of law. The question is: can they achieve that goal or not? Until the Tribunal has done its works, I don't have any view just yet. Also the general population has to see that the Tribunal has really acted as a role model for Cambodia. If it deviates from that goal, it will not be a role model for Cambodia to become a state of law. If it takes that path it will not achieve anything. That's all I can say.

HR: Mr. Khieu Samphan, do you think that Cambodia can achieve justice, now that the trials are happening?

Samphan: I cannot make any comment just yet because from the research that I have done, there was no evidence of genocide, like I said before. And my research was not my own doing, but it was based on documents of other researchers and writers. They never made any references or links to genocide. But this doesn't mean that the KR leaders were not wrong either. But right or wrong, the Tribunal must examine case by case, person by person individually. And do more research. But what I wrote was only my personal opinion. That didn't mean that I was against the Tribunal or against the judicial process. I just write it as a history, as an historical analysis, that's all.

HR: Mr. Khieu Samphan, If there is a summons for you to appear before the Tribunal, what proof do you have to defend yourself?

Samphan: I have told you before. Whatever they accused me of, it is not me who need to show the evidence. The onus is on the accuser, the prosecutor, to show the evidence against me. That's my opinion. And this opinion of mine is not wrong either because I have studied a little bit of law as well.

HR: Mr. Khieu Samphan, This is the last question. Based on local and international media reports, the fifth KR suspect could be you. Before the Tribunal summons you, do you have any messages or words to the Cambodian people who are listening to the Voice of America right now?

Samphan: I don't have any opinion or messages yet because I am just an ordinary person also. But as I told you before, the Tribunal was set up to serve the wish of our nation and the international community to act as a role model for Cambodia to become a state of law. Whether it can achieve that or not remain to be seen. That's all I can say. Thank you. Goodbye.

HR: Thank you very much, Mr. Khieu Samphan, for the interview with Voice of America.

Samphan: Thank you.//

1.(To return to part one click here).
2.To read Khieu Samphan's interview: The reasons I joined the Khmer Rouge.