Reuters
PHNOM PENH: Pol Pot's right-hand man, Nuon Chea, appeared before Cambodia's "Killing Fields" tribunal on Wednesday to request bail, arguing he was not a flight risk and would not try to influence potential witnesses.
The octogenarian former Khmer Rouge guerrilla, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, also said fears for his safety were overblown as he had been living for years in "peace and harmony" at his home in the jungle along the Thai border.
"I have no desire to leave my beloved country," he told a courtroom packed with reporters. "No one is worried about my security."
A previous bail hearing was adjourned on Monday because Nuon Chea's Dutch defence lawyer, Michiel Pestman, did not turn up. Pestman was not at Thursday's hearing but sent a Dutch representative, allowing proceedings to continue.
An estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died of torture, disease or starvation under Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign of terror as his dream of creating an agrarian peasant utopia descended into the nightmare of the "Killing Fields".
Nuon Chea is accused of playing a central role in the atrocities and has been implicated directly in the mass slaughter of regime opponents by Duch, head of Phnom Penh's S-21, or Tuol Sleng, interrogation and torture centre.
Duch, who is also accused of atrocities, is expected to be a key witness at the $56 million United Nations-backed tribunal.
The court is not expected to announce its decision for several days, but it is extremely unlikely that Nuon Chea will be released.
(Reporting by Ek Madra; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Michael Battye and Sanjeev Miglani)
The octogenarian former Khmer Rouge guerrilla, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, also said fears for his safety were overblown as he had been living for years in "peace and harmony" at his home in the jungle along the Thai border.
"I have no desire to leave my beloved country," he told a courtroom packed with reporters. "No one is worried about my security."
A previous bail hearing was adjourned on Monday because Nuon Chea's Dutch defence lawyer, Michiel Pestman, did not turn up. Pestman was not at Thursday's hearing but sent a Dutch representative, allowing proceedings to continue.
An estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died of torture, disease or starvation under Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign of terror as his dream of creating an agrarian peasant utopia descended into the nightmare of the "Killing Fields".
Nuon Chea is accused of playing a central role in the atrocities and has been implicated directly in the mass slaughter of regime opponents by Duch, head of Phnom Penh's S-21, or Tuol Sleng, interrogation and torture centre.
Duch, who is also accused of atrocities, is expected to be a key witness at the $56 million United Nations-backed tribunal.
The court is not expected to announce its decision for several days, but it is extremely unlikely that Nuon Chea will be released.
(Reporting by Ek Madra; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Michael Battye and Sanjeev Miglani)
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