Ta MokDeutsche Presse-Agentur
Phnom Penh - Imprisoned former Khmer Rouge military commander Ta Mok's health was very poor and deteriorating rapidly, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Speaking in an interview at his office, Benson Samay said the 82-year-old Ta Mok had stopped eating and had serious respiratory, stomach and blood pressure problems.
Ta Mok is a prime candidate to face a trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders. He was formally charged with crimes against humanity in February 2002.
'He has never been this sick. They are treating him inside the military prison,' Samay said. 'I worry that he may not see a trial if it does not happen very soon. He cannot eat now, and his blood pressure is very high. He has a lot of pains.'
But Military Court President Ney Thol said Ta Mok had responded to treatment and his health was in keeping with a man of his years.
'He has a cough and is complaining of kidney pains, but he is not serious. Some days he is good, some days he is not. His health is irregular like this, but he is more than 80 years old, so this is to be expected,' Ney Thol said by telephone.
Ta Mok, whose real name is Chhit Choeun, was not expected to be moved from the prison to military hospital for treatment at this stage, he said.
Spokesmen for the long-awaited Khmer Rouge Tribunal said earlier this year that the prosecution stage of the process was expected to begin as soon as July. The tribunal's press officers were unavailable Wednesday to confirm whether that timeline still held.
Ta Mok was nicknamed The Butcher for his bloody military campaigns as the top Khmer Rouge commander, and his power struggle for dominance over the movement's late leader, Pol Pot, only ended with Pol Pot's death in 1998.
Ta Mok was captured crossing the Thai border into Cambodia by government troops in March, 1999 and has been remanded in military prison ever since.
Advocates of a trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders have long urged haste in getting the long awaited proceedings underway before the mostly aging and ailing former leaders die or become too ill to ever face justice.
As many as two million Cambodians died of disease, malnutrition, torture, executions and overwork during the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror between 1975 and 1979.
Speaking in an interview at his office, Benson Samay said the 82-year-old Ta Mok had stopped eating and had serious respiratory, stomach and blood pressure problems.
Ta Mok is a prime candidate to face a trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders. He was formally charged with crimes against humanity in February 2002.
'He has never been this sick. They are treating him inside the military prison,' Samay said. 'I worry that he may not see a trial if it does not happen very soon. He cannot eat now, and his blood pressure is very high. He has a lot of pains.'
But Military Court President Ney Thol said Ta Mok had responded to treatment and his health was in keeping with a man of his years.
'He has a cough and is complaining of kidney pains, but he is not serious. Some days he is good, some days he is not. His health is irregular like this, but he is more than 80 years old, so this is to be expected,' Ney Thol said by telephone.
Ta Mok, whose real name is Chhit Choeun, was not expected to be moved from the prison to military hospital for treatment at this stage, he said.
Spokesmen for the long-awaited Khmer Rouge Tribunal said earlier this year that the prosecution stage of the process was expected to begin as soon as July. The tribunal's press officers were unavailable Wednesday to confirm whether that timeline still held.
Ta Mok was nicknamed The Butcher for his bloody military campaigns as the top Khmer Rouge commander, and his power struggle for dominance over the movement's late leader, Pol Pot, only ended with Pol Pot's death in 1998.
Ta Mok was captured crossing the Thai border into Cambodia by government troops in March, 1999 and has been remanded in military prison ever since.
Advocates of a trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders have long urged haste in getting the long awaited proceedings underway before the mostly aging and ailing former leaders die or become too ill to ever face justice.
As many as two million Cambodians died of disease, malnutrition, torture, executions and overwork during the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror between 1975 and 1979.
5 comments:
One by one, these mother fuckers that were responsible for genocide will die, under the work of ah HunSen and His Vietnam,Chinese counter parts, it's their way to silence things out by the time Khmer Rouge's Trial on it way. ALL of these Khmer Rouge Leader will be poison or murder by the time anybody can do any shit about it, unless UN or some third world take them out of the country and help them out with their health issues. Order wise those Military Hospital in Cambodia will make their death come faster..then we're going to be real fucked up. Not getting any answer out of these OLD FUCked that were responsible for killing your families and mine.
Why all the sudden these fuckers start dying??? Just last week there was one very important KR name Thiounn Thioeun die. I think it's a conspiracy here, knowing tail is on its way.
I'm not surprise...Just like ah POL POT.....when we start looking and diging into them, they start dying, their way of scape goat.
Mok eng kuor ter slab ter sday doy Sihanouk trov ban ruoch khluon. Ayutte thor nass Mok. Much of my families members were die by Sihanouk politic and your team Mok. How do you think if you are I am
There is no doubt that there is conspiracy going on. Hun Sen and his boss(Yuan) decided to let those killers slowly dying off and left only a few around. By now, those few would not able to testify due to their health.
Pol Pot death wasn't from his health alone, he was murdered to keep him from telling the truth of the true killer behind Khmer Rouge. He body was quickly cremated, no autopsy or any examination to determine the real cause. It was ruled out that it was caused by a heart attack. Pol Pot was murdered the night before he suppose to give an interview to one western reporter.
The Khmer rouge trial cannot success if Sihanouk still alive because Sihanouk was a big leader for the killing fields. China and Vietnam that related with killing fields still using Hun Sen to delay Khmer rouge trial.
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