Khmer Rouge foreign minister seeks release

Former Khmer Rouge former minister Ieng Sary in Phnom Penh

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — The Khmer Rouge's former foreign minister Thursday asked to be released from a detention centre ahead of his trial at Cambodia's UN-backed genocide court, on the grounds that he is old and sick.

Ieng Sary, 83, is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes but is seeking to be freed from the purpose-built detention centre at the court, saying that life there is making him ill and violates his rights.

The appeal came a day after the regime's prison chief, Duch, also sought his freedom. Duch's trial started on Monday while no date has been set for the trials of Ieng Sary and three other Khmer Rouge leaders held by the court.

"Mr. Ieng Sary is an old and sick man. He needs constant medical attention," his Cambodian defence lawyer Ang Udom told the court.

Ang Udom urged judges to place his client under house arrest or in a hospital ward to "increase the chances of Mr. Ieng Sary being able to be tried before this court."

Ieng Sary has been rushed to hospital nine times since he was detained by the court in November 2007, and his lawyers have previously argued that staying in jail will kill him.

At Thursday's appeal hearing, Ieng Sary calmly confirmed his background to judges, including his age and his address before he was arrested, but said he found it difficult to speak.

"May I request that I sit next to my defense council... I am very old so I cannot speak much. So I would like my co-lawyers to speak on my behalf," Ieng Sary said.

Judges in February delayed Ieng Sary's hearing after he said he was too ill to make an appearance.

The prosecution has said Ieng Sary must be held to protect him from revenge attacks by victims of the Khmer Rouge regime and to ensure he does not flee the country before going on trial.

In addition to Duch and Ieng Sary, the court plans to prosecute Ieng Sary's wife Ieng Thirith, who was the regime's minister of social affairs, former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea and its head of state Khieu Samphan.

Up to two million people died as the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime emptied Cambodia's cities in its drive to create a communist utopia.

Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998 before facing justice. Pol Pot and Ieng Sary were both sentenced to death in absentia by a Vietnamese-backed show trial hastily convened after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.