A Cambodian woman point to a portrait of former Khmer Rouge prison chief (S21) Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch.
By Suy Se
PHNOM PENH (AFP)— Lawyers for former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch will call for his release on Monday when Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court begins hearing appeals against his 30-year sentence.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was found guilty in July of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people at the notorious torture prison Tuol Sleng in the late 1970s.
He was the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal.
During his trial, the jailer repeatedly apologised for overseeing mass murder at the detention centre -- also known as S-21 -- but shocked the court by finally asking to be acquitted in November 2009.
In their appeal hearing on Monday, Duch's lawyers plan to argue that the court has no jurisdiction over their client because he was not one of the regime's senior leaders, nor one of those most responsible for the crimes committed.
"The court is not allowed to try a person that does not fall into one of those two groups," defence lawyer Kang Ritheary told AFP, adding that Duch was only following orders.
The 68-year-old was initially given 35 years in jail but the court reduced the sentence on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years.
Taking into account time already served, Duch could walk free in less than 19 years, to the dismay of many victims of the 1975-1979 hardline communist movement.
Prosecutors, whose appeal will be heard on Tuesday, are hoping to have Duch's sentence increased to life, to be commuted to 45 years for time served in unlawful detention.
They say in their appeal brief that the verdict did "not adequately reflect the seriousness of the crimes or the respondent's role in those crimes".
They also want enslavement, imprisonment, torture, rape, extermination and other inhumane acts to be added to Duch's list of convictions.
The tribunal's Supreme Court Chamber is expected to announce its ruling on the appeals in late June.
Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and execution.
S-21 in Phnom Penh was at the centre of the regime's security apparatus and thousands of inmates were taken from there for execution in a nearby orchard.
Duch has been detained since 1999, when he was found working as a Christian aid worker in the jungle. He was formally arrested by the tribunal in July 2007.
Four more of the regime's former members -- including "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea -- are due to go trial later this year and Duch is expected to appear as a witness in the case.
3 comments:
pol pot is an evil man it is brutal regimes i was 19 year old an is new people to the pol pot regime i almost perish like most my friend did .
if you were in pol pot regime you know there's no rape (against the communist rule).
the young generation of cambodia and the ex-khmer rouge doesn't have any ideas about the brutal regimes how much the brutal regime have done to cambodia if the khmer rouge regime exist few more years only khmer people still in cambodia today is pure khmer rouge.
a lot of ex-khmer rouge have resentment toward vietnam because vietnam toppled theirs regime .
khmer rouge have the opportunity to run the country but instead they destroyed the country.
every khmer family effected by khmer rouge regime .
it is more than 30 years ago but i still remember well how can i forget the regimes that almost wipe out it own people .
khmer rouge leader when you kill my families they don't have opportunity that you have today they wear glasses they don't deserve to die they speak french don't deserve to die.
and one more thing pol pot is a failure he can't even pass simple french language exam.
Les Khmers Rouges , je veux dire Angkar des KR , sont des malades . On doit même pas compter comme gouvernants d'un pays.Ces connards ont tué leurs propres peuple . Que ce soit commerçants , ministres , intellectuels ou pas intellectuels ...on est tous victime de ces fous.
L'histoire cambodgien ne doit pas considérer ces gens comme un gouvernement du Cambodge de 1975-1978.
On doit les appeler les fous malades , les voyous , les assassins. Ils ne méritent pas avoir une bonne place dans l'histoire de notre pays .
Le Cambodge doit encore subir les conséquences de leurs actes , des générations et des générations encore. Ils doivent tous se suicider , ces membres de l'Angkar KR , qu'on ne perd pas du temps avec eux . Mais ce sont des lâches , ils n'osent jamais prendre leur responsabilité.
Post a Comment