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Trial of top Khmer Rouge trio begins
Source: Agencies |
November 22, 2011, Tuesday
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CAMBODIANS were bluntly reminded of their tragic history yesterday as the trial began of three Khmer Rouge leaders accused of orchestrating Cambodia's "killing fields" in the late 1970s.
After Judge Nil Nonn declared the trial open, the prosecution started its case at the UN-backed tribunal - more than three decades after the southeast Asian country was the scene of some of the 20th century's worst atrocities.
About 1.7 million people died of execution, starvation, exhaustion or lack of medical care after the Khmer Rouge effectively turned all of Cambodia into a forced labor camp.
The defendants are old and infirm, and there are fears they will not live long enough for justice to be done.
Yesterday they sat side by side with their lawyers in a courtroom built specially for the tribunal as the prosecutors read opening statements describing their alleged crimes.
Present were 85-year-old Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge's chief ideologist and deputy leader, 80-year-old Khieu Samphan, an ex-head of state, and 86-year-old Ieng Sary, the former foreign minister. They showed little reaction as a litany of charges was read out.
A fourth defendant, 79-year-old Ieng Thirith, was ruled unfit to stand trial last week because she has Alzheimer's disease. She is Ieng Sary's wife and was the regime's minister for social affairs. She remains detained pending a court decision on prosecutors' appeal against her unconditional release.
The charges against the surviving inner circle of the Khmer Rouge include crimes against humanity, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture. Their leader, Pol Pot, died in the jungle in 1998 while a prisoner of his own comrades.
Anne Heindel, legal adviser to the independent Documentation Center of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities, said: "This is the first (trial) of the Khmer Rouge leadership responsible for enacting a series of policies that led to the deaths of nearly 2 million people. There is hope it will help Cambodians understand why it happened … and will teach the younger generation to ensure it will never happen again."
Prosecution statements will continue today, followed by two days of defense response. The hybrid tribunal has teams of Cambodian and international personnel for both lawyers' and judges' roles. Testimony is scheduled to begin on December 5.
Chea Leang, Cambodian co-prosecutor, recalled for the court the brutalities of Khmer Rouge rule, beginning on April 17, 1975, when they captured Phnom Penh to end a bitter five-year civil war, and immediately began the forced evacuation to the countryside of the estimated 1 million people who had sheltered in the capital.
She recounted the new social order established by the group - a system of forced labor, with personal property, religion, press and all personal freedoms banned.
She said the evidence would show the regime the defendants led "was one of the most brutal and horrific in modern history."
After Judge Nil Nonn declared the trial open, the prosecution started its case at the UN-backed tribunal - more than three decades after the southeast Asian country was the scene of some of the 20th century's worst atrocities.
About 1.7 million people died of execution, starvation, exhaustion or lack of medical care after the Khmer Rouge effectively turned all of Cambodia into a forced labor camp.
The defendants are old and infirm, and there are fears they will not live long enough for justice to be done.
Yesterday they sat side by side with their lawyers in a courtroom built specially for the tribunal as the prosecutors read opening statements describing their alleged crimes.
Present were 85-year-old Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge's chief ideologist and deputy leader, 80-year-old Khieu Samphan, an ex-head of state, and 86-year-old Ieng Sary, the former foreign minister. They showed little reaction as a litany of charges was read out.
A fourth defendant, 79-year-old Ieng Thirith, was ruled unfit to stand trial last week because she has Alzheimer's disease. She is Ieng Sary's wife and was the regime's minister for social affairs. She remains detained pending a court decision on prosecutors' appeal against her unconditional release.
The charges against the surviving inner circle of the Khmer Rouge include crimes against humanity, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture. Their leader, Pol Pot, died in the jungle in 1998 while a prisoner of his own comrades.
Anne Heindel, legal adviser to the independent Documentation Center of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities, said: "This is the first (trial) of the Khmer Rouge leadership responsible for enacting a series of policies that led to the deaths of nearly 2 million people. There is hope it will help Cambodians understand why it happened … and will teach the younger generation to ensure it will never happen again."
Prosecution statements will continue today, followed by two days of defense response. The hybrid tribunal has teams of Cambodian and international personnel for both lawyers' and judges' roles. Testimony is scheduled to begin on December 5.
Chea Leang, Cambodian co-prosecutor, recalled for the court the brutalities of Khmer Rouge rule, beginning on April 17, 1975, when they captured Phnom Penh to end a bitter five-year civil war, and immediately began the forced evacuation to the countryside of the estimated 1 million people who had sheltered in the capital.
She recounted the new social order established by the group - a system of forced labor, with personal property, religion, press and all personal freedoms banned.
She said the evidence would show the regime the defendants led "was one of the most brutal and horrific in modern history."
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