DPA
Phnom Penh - The court set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders denied an appeal Monday by one of the movement's alleged chief torturers for pre-trial release. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia accepted the the prosecution's claims that releasing Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, 65, could pose a threat to witnesses and his own security.
Court president Prak Kimsan said the judges considered Duch - the former commandant of the S-21 prison where up to 17,000 people were tortured before being killed - to be a potential flight risk.
Duch's lawyers argued that his human rights had been violated by being held in detention for more than eight years.
Duch, a born-again Christian, was discovered in 1999 working as a teacher in the northwestern province of Battambang and has been imprisoned virtually ever since.
The verdict was greeted with relief by the handful of survivors of the Khmer Rouge's most notorious prison, such as Chum Mey, who said he attended the hearings to lay ghosts to rest and because he believed it was his duty as a survivor.
Duch has been formally charged with crimes against humanity by the joint UN-Cambodia tribunal, and security was again tight as people crowded into the court to try to catch a glimpse of one of the movement's most known faces.
Atrocities allegedly committed at the prison included electric shocks, pulling out fingernails, beatings, drownings and other forms of torture.
The Duch detention case was the first public hearing by the court and came nearly three decades after the 1975-79 regime was toppled by invading Vietnamese forces. Up to 2 million Cambodians perished under the Khmer Rouge in its drive to transform the country into a classless agrarian utopia.
Four other former leaders have been charged by the court: former leader Pol Pot's chief deputy, Nuon Chea; former head of state Khieu Samphan; former deputy prime minister Ieng Sary and his wife Khieu Thirith, who was also Pol Pot's sister-in-law.
All of them are expected to also appeal their pre-trial detention. It was not immediately clear if Duch's lawyers were planning to appeal Monday's decision.
Court president Prak Kimsan said the judges considered Duch - the former commandant of the S-21 prison where up to 17,000 people were tortured before being killed - to be a potential flight risk.
Duch's lawyers argued that his human rights had been violated by being held in detention for more than eight years.
Duch, a born-again Christian, was discovered in 1999 working as a teacher in the northwestern province of Battambang and has been imprisoned virtually ever since.
The verdict was greeted with relief by the handful of survivors of the Khmer Rouge's most notorious prison, such as Chum Mey, who said he attended the hearings to lay ghosts to rest and because he believed it was his duty as a survivor.
Duch has been formally charged with crimes against humanity by the joint UN-Cambodia tribunal, and security was again tight as people crowded into the court to try to catch a glimpse of one of the movement's most known faces.
Atrocities allegedly committed at the prison included electric shocks, pulling out fingernails, beatings, drownings and other forms of torture.
The Duch detention case was the first public hearing by the court and came nearly three decades after the 1975-79 regime was toppled by invading Vietnamese forces. Up to 2 million Cambodians perished under the Khmer Rouge in its drive to transform the country into a classless agrarian utopia.
Four other former leaders have been charged by the court: former leader Pol Pot's chief deputy, Nuon Chea; former head of state Khieu Samphan; former deputy prime minister Ieng Sary and his wife Khieu Thirith, who was also Pol Pot's sister-in-law.
All of them are expected to also appeal their pre-trial detention. It was not immediately clear if Duch's lawyers were planning to appeal Monday's decision.
1 comment:
What is silly excuse?
They considered Duch to be a potential flight risk? hahaha, LOL, hahaha.... ROFLMAO.
Where will he fly to? And why can't he be trial in absentia?
This is no doubt a Kangaroo court (ECCC).
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