Legal challenges continue in Cambodian genocide case against ex-minister Ieng Sary
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
CBC News
(With files from the Associated Press)
Lawyers defending a former Khmer Rouge foreign minister accused of complicity in the deaths of millions of Cambodians in the 1970s argued Wednesday that a 12-year-old royal pardon exempts him from prosecution by the country’s genocide tribunal.
Prosecutors said the pardon was improper and should not be recognized.
The United Nations-assisted court has charged Ieng Sary, 82, with crimes against humanity and war crimes in connection with the killing of up to three million people during the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
Cambodians died in torture camps, in mass executions and of starvation and disease brought on by Khmer Rouge policies of collectivizing farms and emptying cities of intellectuals and the middle classes.
Wednesday was the third day of a pre-trial hearing, with Sary’s defence team demanding his release from custody.
He is one of five former senior Khmer Rouge officials awaiting trial at the tribunal, which combines international and Cambodian legal expertise.
Monarch pardoned defendant in 1996
Mounting a fresh challenge against the prosecution, Sary's defence team urged judges to free their client because of a pardon granted by then Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk in 1996.
That pardon came after Ieng Sary was condemned to death by a tribunal under a government installed in Cambodia by Vietnamese troops after they toppled the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
The king pardoned him as a reward for leading some Khmer Rouge to break away from the movement and join the government, a move that foreshadowed the group's collapse in 1999 and brought an end one of Asia’s longest-running civil wars
"When you look at Ieng Sary today, in spite of the past history, the royal decree ... was not given lightly. They [the government and former king] recognize him as an agent of peace, as someone who would be able to stop the war, and that's why it was granted," said Michael Karnavas, a U.S. defence lawyer.
Prosecutor Yet Chakriya asked the court to nullify the pardon since under Cambodian law, convicts must serve two-thirds of their sentences before pardons can be granted.
But Ieng Sary "has never served his sentence, not even a single day," said Yet Chakriya, urging the court "to stop the culture of impunity enjoyed by the leaders of the country who had committed serious crimes" against their own people.
Wife also on trial
Earlier this week, Ieng Sary’s defence also argued that he should be released from custody because he is too ill to spend time in jail, and that he cannot be tried twice for the same crime — the so-called “double jeopardy” principle.
Four other former officials of the Communist Khmer Rouge face trial at the tribunal, among them Ieng Sary’s wife and the former head of the state of the regime, Khieu Samphan.
The notorious leader of the movement, Pol Pot, died in 1999, reportedly from a heart attack, although no reliable autopsy was ever performed.
At the time, a rump faction of the Khmer Rouge lead by Pol Pot was still hiding in the Cambodian back country while most of group had disbanded or joined other political movements.
The trials process has been bogged down for years in legal complexities, as lawyers juggle conflicting ideas from Cambodian, French and international law.
Robert Petit of Montreal is co-chief prosecutor.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
CBC News
(With files from the Associated Press)
Lawyers defending a former Khmer Rouge foreign minister accused of complicity in the deaths of millions of Cambodians in the 1970s argued Wednesday that a 12-year-old royal pardon exempts him from prosecution by the country’s genocide tribunal.
Prosecutors said the pardon was improper and should not be recognized.
The United Nations-assisted court has charged Ieng Sary, 82, with crimes against humanity and war crimes in connection with the killing of up to three million people during the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
Cambodians died in torture camps, in mass executions and of starvation and disease brought on by Khmer Rouge policies of collectivizing farms and emptying cities of intellectuals and the middle classes.
Wednesday was the third day of a pre-trial hearing, with Sary’s defence team demanding his release from custody.
He is one of five former senior Khmer Rouge officials awaiting trial at the tribunal, which combines international and Cambodian legal expertise.
Monarch pardoned defendant in 1996
Mounting a fresh challenge against the prosecution, Sary's defence team urged judges to free their client because of a pardon granted by then Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk in 1996.
That pardon came after Ieng Sary was condemned to death by a tribunal under a government installed in Cambodia by Vietnamese troops after they toppled the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
The king pardoned him as a reward for leading some Khmer Rouge to break away from the movement and join the government, a move that foreshadowed the group's collapse in 1999 and brought an end one of Asia’s longest-running civil wars
"When you look at Ieng Sary today, in spite of the past history, the royal decree ... was not given lightly. They [the government and former king] recognize him as an agent of peace, as someone who would be able to stop the war, and that's why it was granted," said Michael Karnavas, a U.S. defence lawyer.
Prosecutor Yet Chakriya asked the court to nullify the pardon since under Cambodian law, convicts must serve two-thirds of their sentences before pardons can be granted.
But Ieng Sary "has never served his sentence, not even a single day," said Yet Chakriya, urging the court "to stop the culture of impunity enjoyed by the leaders of the country who had committed serious crimes" against their own people.
Wife also on trial
Earlier this week, Ieng Sary’s defence also argued that he should be released from custody because he is too ill to spend time in jail, and that he cannot be tried twice for the same crime — the so-called “double jeopardy” principle.
Four other former officials of the Communist Khmer Rouge face trial at the tribunal, among them Ieng Sary’s wife and the former head of the state of the regime, Khieu Samphan.
The notorious leader of the movement, Pol Pot, died in 1999, reportedly from a heart attack, although no reliable autopsy was ever performed.
At the time, a rump faction of the Khmer Rouge lead by Pol Pot was still hiding in the Cambodian back country while most of group had disbanded or joined other political movements.
The trials process has been bogged down for years in legal complexities, as lawyers juggle conflicting ideas from Cambodian, French and international law.
Robert Petit of Montreal is co-chief prosecutor.
1 comment:
A pardon was improper? That is the most fuck up argument I ever heard off. What they are saying is Khmer people is retarded.
Well, fuck you too, infidels!
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