Khieu Samphan sits at his home in Pailin, northwest of Phnom Penh in July 2007. Khieu Samphan will not voluntarily surrender to Cambodia's UN-backed genocide court, his wife said Thursday amid speculation that the regime's former head of state would soon be arrested.(AFP)Thursday November 15, 2007
PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan will not voluntarily surrender to Cambodia's UN-backed genocide court, his wife said Thursday amid speculation that the regime's former head of state would soon be arrested.
"He will go to the tribunal when there is a summons, when there is a warrant," wife Sor Socheat told AFP, a day after two other members of the regime's inner circle were formally detained by the tribunal.
Former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, were officially taken into the court's custody late Wednesday after their first judicial hearing before tribunal judges.
The pair had been arrested at their Phnom Penh home on Monday and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, bringing to four the number of top cadre now facing the court.
Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea and prison chief Duch were arrested by the tribunal earlier this year.
No details were released of Wednesday's hearing, which was to determine whether enough evidence existed to continue detaining Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith.
Both have been implicated in atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule over Cambodia, but deny any role in the regime's crimes.
Ieng Thirith, however, remains a staunch defender of the Khmer Rouge's policies of self-reliance.
Khieu Samphan, the last of five senior regime leaders to remain outside of the tribunal's custody, continued Thursday to receive medical care at Phnom Penh's Calmette Hospital.
He was admitted Wednesday after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered him flown from his home in the former rebel stronghold Pailin, in northwest Cambodia, to the capital for treatment.
The prime minister said at the time that he feared the government could be blamed for the death of Khieu Samphan, who suffered a spike in blood pressure Tuesday night.
Sor Socheat said Thursday that her husband was "feeling normal. He did not have a stroke," but that it was unclear when he would be discharged.
Doctors on Wednesday ran a battery of tests, including a CAT Scan, but no results have been announced, Sor Socheat said.
"He is still in the hospital to receive more treatment," she said.
Khieu Samphan's illness, however, highlights fears that ageing Khmer Rouge cadre could die before they are tried for crimes committed by the communist guerrillas.
Up to two million people were executed, or died of starvation and overwork under the regime, which sought to forge an agrarian utopia.
Religion, schools and currency were abolished, while the country's population was driven onto vast collective farms as the Khmer Rouge's radical social experiment deteriorated into one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.
"He will go to the tribunal when there is a summons, when there is a warrant," wife Sor Socheat told AFP, a day after two other members of the regime's inner circle were formally detained by the tribunal.
Former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, were officially taken into the court's custody late Wednesday after their first judicial hearing before tribunal judges.
The pair had been arrested at their Phnom Penh home on Monday and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, bringing to four the number of top cadre now facing the court.
Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea and prison chief Duch were arrested by the tribunal earlier this year.
No details were released of Wednesday's hearing, which was to determine whether enough evidence existed to continue detaining Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith.
Both have been implicated in atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule over Cambodia, but deny any role in the regime's crimes.
Ieng Thirith, however, remains a staunch defender of the Khmer Rouge's policies of self-reliance.
Khieu Samphan, the last of five senior regime leaders to remain outside of the tribunal's custody, continued Thursday to receive medical care at Phnom Penh's Calmette Hospital.
He was admitted Wednesday after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered him flown from his home in the former rebel stronghold Pailin, in northwest Cambodia, to the capital for treatment.
The prime minister said at the time that he feared the government could be blamed for the death of Khieu Samphan, who suffered a spike in blood pressure Tuesday night.
Sor Socheat said Thursday that her husband was "feeling normal. He did not have a stroke," but that it was unclear when he would be discharged.
Doctors on Wednesday ran a battery of tests, including a CAT Scan, but no results have been announced, Sor Socheat said.
"He is still in the hospital to receive more treatment," she said.
Khieu Samphan's illness, however, highlights fears that ageing Khmer Rouge cadre could die before they are tried for crimes committed by the communist guerrillas.
Up to two million people were executed, or died of starvation and overwork under the regime, which sought to forge an agrarian utopia.
Religion, schools and currency were abolished, while the country's population was driven onto vast collective farms as the Khmer Rouge's radical social experiment deteriorated into one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.
2 comments:
"No voluntary surrender for KRouge leader"
This guy is a real wimp and a gread coward.
You can do it man. Figth on man.
Be a man, fight USA imperialism, CIA, and youn agggressors and get rid of inside traitors. The blood of peasants/farmers will spill red over cambodia soil to support great lead forward of ANKAR. Bravo, Bravo, Bravo. BULLSHIT man!!!
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