Khmer Rouge defendant taken to hospital

Nuon Chea appeared in his first court hearing on 4th Beb. 2008.

By KER MUNTHIT, Associated Press Writer

Mon Feb 4, 2008.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - One of the five former Khmer Rouge leaders being held for trial by Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal was rushed to a hospital Monday, just hours after one of his co-defendants made his first courtroom appearance.
Ieng Sary, the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister, was hospitalized for a urinary tract problem, said his lawyer, Ang Udom.
Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said it was the second time in the past 10 days that the 78-year-old Ieng Sary, who has a history of heart trouble, has been taken to a hospital.
Many victims of the Khmer Rouge have long feared that some of the defendants, now aging and infirm, could die before they could be tried. The 1975-1979 communist Khmer Rouge regime is widely considered responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people though execution, overwork and starvation.
"We try our best to take care of all the defendants without thinking about the costs ... so that they remain healthy to confront the law," Reach Sambath said.
Earlier Monday, another former Khmer Rouge leader demanded "international standards" of justice and asked for release on bail in his first appearance before the tribunal.
Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge's former ideological leader, has been detained since Sept. 19 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The tribunal earlier said detention was necessary to prevent him from pressuring witnesses, destroying evidence or escaping. The judges said the safety of the 81-year-old Nuon Chea could be at risk if he was released.
His Cambodian lawyer, Son Arun, claimed the tribunal's investigating judges did not have sufficient grounds to detain him and asked the court to postpone the hearing so a foreign lawyer could join him. He was given until Wednesday to explain how much time is needed.
In December, the pretrial chamber judges ruled against a similar appeal for release by Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison and torture center.
The tribunal is expected to begin holding trials later this year.
The other defendants are Ieng Sary's wife Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs in the Khmer Rouge government, and Khieu Samphan, the former Khmer Rouge head of state.