The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: The former Khmer Rouge foreign minister faced Cambodia's genocide tribunal for the third day Wednesday after his lawyers argued that trying him violates "double jeopardy" principles because he has already been convicted on similar charges and pardoned.
The United Nations-assisted court has charged Ieng Sary, 82, with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Earlier, Ieng Sary's lawyers argued that he should be released because of ill health that made him unable to fully assist his lawyers.
But on Tuesday, they tried to establish that trying him would constitute double jeopardy.
In many legal systems - including French law, upon which Cambodian law is based -a person generally cannot by prosecuted a second time for a crime for which a judgment has already been rendered.
Ieng Sary's lawyer, Michael Karnavas, sought to establish that the tribunal was bound by Cambodian law to honor the double jeopardy doctrine and that Ieng Sary had already been judged for his alleged crimes.
The tribunal, jointly run by Cambodian and international personnel, is attempting to establish accountability for atrocities committed by the communist group when it ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.
The group's radical policies resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution. Ieng Sary is one of five former senior Khmer Rouge being held for trial by the tribunal.
Ieng Sary was condemned to death in absentia for genocide in a tribunal instituted by a communist government that was installed in Cambodia by Vietnamese troops after they toppled the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. The tribunal was a classic Soviet-style show trial, with no real effort to present a defense.
In 1996, Ieng Sary received a royal pardon from the sentence from former King Norodom Sihanouk as a reward for breaking away from the Khmer Rouge and leading his followers to join the government. The mutiny foreshadowed the rebel group's collapse three years later in 1999.
Karnavas, an American lawyer with wide experience in war crimes tribunals, argued that the concept of double jeopardy applied.
Referring to the 1979 trial, he said the current charges comprise the same elements as the genocide for which Ieng Sary was convicted.
One of the co-prosecutors, Yet Chakriya, responded that the current case is based on a different set of facts.
Ieng Sary is the only one of five defendants held by the current tribunal who was previously tried and pardoned.
The United Nations-assisted court has charged Ieng Sary, 82, with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Earlier, Ieng Sary's lawyers argued that he should be released because of ill health that made him unable to fully assist his lawyers.
But on Tuesday, they tried to establish that trying him would constitute double jeopardy.
In many legal systems - including French law, upon which Cambodian law is based -a person generally cannot by prosecuted a second time for a crime for which a judgment has already been rendered.
Ieng Sary's lawyer, Michael Karnavas, sought to establish that the tribunal was bound by Cambodian law to honor the double jeopardy doctrine and that Ieng Sary had already been judged for his alleged crimes.
The tribunal, jointly run by Cambodian and international personnel, is attempting to establish accountability for atrocities committed by the communist group when it ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.
The group's radical policies resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution. Ieng Sary is one of five former senior Khmer Rouge being held for trial by the tribunal.
Ieng Sary was condemned to death in absentia for genocide in a tribunal instituted by a communist government that was installed in Cambodia by Vietnamese troops after they toppled the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. The tribunal was a classic Soviet-style show trial, with no real effort to present a defense.
In 1996, Ieng Sary received a royal pardon from the sentence from former King Norodom Sihanouk as a reward for breaking away from the Khmer Rouge and leading his followers to join the government. The mutiny foreshadowed the rebel group's collapse three years later in 1999.
Karnavas, an American lawyer with wide experience in war crimes tribunals, argued that the concept of double jeopardy applied.
Referring to the 1979 trial, he said the current charges comprise the same elements as the genocide for which Ieng Sary was convicted.
One of the co-prosecutors, Yet Chakriya, responded that the current case is based on a different set of facts.
Ieng Sary is the only one of five defendants held by the current tribunal who was previously tried and pardoned.
2 comments:
That is correct, it is illegal to charge a person with similar charges more than once.
The ECCC must sets good role for Cambodia by adhering to Cambodia law.
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