Benson Samay, lawyer for a former Khmer Rouge army chief, Ta Mok, speaks to reporters during a press conference at his office in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, July 13, 2006. The lawyer said the health of ailing former Khmer Rouge army chief is deteriorating and he might not live long enough to see his trial. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)13/07/2006
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)--The health of ailing former Khmer Rouge military chief Ta Mok is deteriorating and he could die very soon - without ever going on trial - unless his condition improves, his lawyer said Thursday.
Benson Samay said Ta Mok was unconscious when he visited him at a military hospital in Phnom Penh on Thursday.
"Since last night, his condition began to worsen. In fact, he was in a coma," he told a news conference. "He could die tonight, tomorrow or next week if the current state persists."
He said Ta Mok, 82, is suffering from high blood pressure, tuberculosis and respiratory complications.
Officials in charge of Ta Mok's detention wouldn't comment on his condition.
Ta Mok is one of two former Khmer Rouge senior officials who are in detention awaiting trial in connection with crimes against humanity committed during the radical communist movement's 1975-79 rule.
He had been held in a Phnom Penh prison but was hospitalized two weeks ago for high blood pressure, stomach pain and coughing.
Earlier this month, judges and prosecutors from Cambodia and foreign countries were sworn in to begin U.N.-backed trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Cambodian and U.N.-appointed prosecutors have begun gathering evidence for the trials, expected to begin in 2007. However, many people fear that aging Khmer Rouge leaders may die before they are brought to trial.
The group's extremist policies led to the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people. Some were executed, while others died of starvation, disease and overwork.
Pol Pot, the movement's leader, died in 1998, but several of his top lieutenants still live freely in Cambodia. The only other detained Khmer Rouge leader is Kaing Khek Iev, also known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge S-21 torture center in Phnom Penh.
Reach Sambath, a spokesman for the U.N.-backed tribunal, said it was aware that Ta Mok has been hospitalized with several ailments.
He said the tribunal's prosecutors haven't yet issued any warrants against Ta Mok, and he therefore remains outside its jurisdiction.
Benson Samay said Ta Mok had told him that he would tell his side of the story if given the chance to do so in court.
"He told me on July 10 that he wanted to tell the world that he never killed anyone," Benson Samay said, repeating a claim Ta Mok has made several times before.
Gen. Ly Sovann, the chief of the military hospital, hung up his phone when asked for comment, and Gen. Ney Thol, chief of military court which oversees the military prison where Ta Mok was held, also declined to comment.
Benson Samay said Ta Mok was unconscious when he visited him at a military hospital in Phnom Penh on Thursday.
"Since last night, his condition began to worsen. In fact, he was in a coma," he told a news conference. "He could die tonight, tomorrow or next week if the current state persists."
He said Ta Mok, 82, is suffering from high blood pressure, tuberculosis and respiratory complications.
Officials in charge of Ta Mok's detention wouldn't comment on his condition.
Ta Mok is one of two former Khmer Rouge senior officials who are in detention awaiting trial in connection with crimes against humanity committed during the radical communist movement's 1975-79 rule.
He had been held in a Phnom Penh prison but was hospitalized two weeks ago for high blood pressure, stomach pain and coughing.
Earlier this month, judges and prosecutors from Cambodia and foreign countries were sworn in to begin U.N.-backed trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Cambodian and U.N.-appointed prosecutors have begun gathering evidence for the trials, expected to begin in 2007. However, many people fear that aging Khmer Rouge leaders may die before they are brought to trial.
The group's extremist policies led to the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people. Some were executed, while others died of starvation, disease and overwork.
Pol Pot, the movement's leader, died in 1998, but several of his top lieutenants still live freely in Cambodia. The only other detained Khmer Rouge leader is Kaing Khek Iev, also known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge S-21 torture center in Phnom Penh.
Reach Sambath, a spokesman for the U.N.-backed tribunal, said it was aware that Ta Mok has been hospitalized with several ailments.
He said the tribunal's prosecutors haven't yet issued any warrants against Ta Mok, and he therefore remains outside its jurisdiction.
Benson Samay said Ta Mok had told him that he would tell his side of the story if given the chance to do so in court.
"He told me on July 10 that he wanted to tell the world that he never killed anyone," Benson Samay said, repeating a claim Ta Mok has made several times before.
Gen. Ly Sovann, the chief of the military hospital, hung up his phone when asked for comment, and Gen. Ney Thol, chief of military court which oversees the military prison where Ta Mok was held, also declined to comment.
6 comments:
Aren't we all know that this shit is gonna happpen like this as the trail approaches. Military Hospital are all handle by HunSen's men...they decided how live and who die, you think an important figure like Ta Mok is allow to be cured to stand trial. You must be fucking out of your mind. All lawyer that defend this mother fucker. you'll seek justic yourself when you go to hell defending an savage animal like this.
Kieuv Samphon and Neun Chea are still well. Grab them before they run away.
Ta Mok dare to tell the truth and he demand that he want to take stand in UN court which will implicate AH HUN SEN and all the Khmer Rogue and the Vietcong!
You see it is sometime too painful to know the truth! So AH HUN SEN decided that Cambodian people are better off not knowing the truth!
To deny the truth is to eliminate the evidences. To stop those old Khmer Rouge from testifying the truth is to destroy the evidences, very clever on behalf of Hanoi.
If those Khmer Rouge commanders are still alive and after seeing what was the intention of Vietnam, of course they will point fingers to the true killer. Vietnam can't afford to have this, so holding back the tribunal is on way. Now it had been long enough, those Khmer Rouge commanders are dead, dying, or being force to die, it's time to start the tribunal, the cover-up is a perfect success, case solved.
That lawyer man looks like porn star!
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