Khem Ngun, center, a former Khmer Rouge soldier, is escorted by police out of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Oct. 3, 2008. Five former Khmer Rouge soldiers went on trial Friday for their alleged involvement in the killing of a British mine-clearing expert and his Cambodian colleague 12 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)Friday, October 3, 2008
By KER MUNTHIT
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Five former Khmer Rouge soldiers accused of killing a British mine-clearing expert and his Cambodian colleague 12 years ago testified Friday that two other soldiers — now believed dead — were instead responsible for the murders.
Their testimony came on the opening day of the trial for the murder of Christopher Howes, who was abducted in March 1996 by the Khmer Rouge along with Cambodian co-workers while clearing mines near Angkor Wat, the famed 12th century temple complex in the country's northwest.
The defendants gave vivid accounts of the execution of Howes, which prosecutor Hing Bun Chea told the court came after his killers offered him a final meal of apples and durian, a tropical fruit known for its pungent aroma.
They said a Khmer Rouge commander named Khem Tem ordered a guerrilla soldier named Rim to shoot Howes in the head.
"Howes fell backward. It was one single shot," said defendant Loch Mao. "Khem Tem then ordered me to fire more shots. I walked up with the intention of firing a shot into his chest, but Khem Ngun (another commander) yelled 'that's enough, he is already dead.'"
Rim and Khem Tem are not defendants. Rim was killed by a land mine in 2004, according to his wife, and Cambodian press accounts have said that Khem Tem died in a road accident in neighboring Thailand.
Howes, who was 37 at the time and a former soldier, won praise while a prisoner for persuading the band of guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and his Cambodian interpreter, Houn Hourth, remained for ransom.
Their fate was a mystery for more than two years, until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said in May 1998 they had firm evidence the two were taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon afterward.
All five defendants appeared in a Phnom Penh court in blue prison uniforms. Among them was Khem Ngun, who other witnesses claim gave the order to kill the two men.
The suspects have been charged with premeditated murder and illegal confinement of persons, crimes punishable by life imprisonment.
Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. At the time, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.
Khem Ngun and two other suspects were arrested last November, while the last two suspects, including his former driver, were arrested in May.
At the time of the first arrests, Howes' father, Roy, who lives in Backwell in southwestern England, said his family would never recover from Christopher's murder.
"These people have wrecked my family," his father said. "The pain is permanently with us."
Their testimony came on the opening day of the trial for the murder of Christopher Howes, who was abducted in March 1996 by the Khmer Rouge along with Cambodian co-workers while clearing mines near Angkor Wat, the famed 12th century temple complex in the country's northwest.
The defendants gave vivid accounts of the execution of Howes, which prosecutor Hing Bun Chea told the court came after his killers offered him a final meal of apples and durian, a tropical fruit known for its pungent aroma.
They said a Khmer Rouge commander named Khem Tem ordered a guerrilla soldier named Rim to shoot Howes in the head.
"Howes fell backward. It was one single shot," said defendant Loch Mao. "Khem Tem then ordered me to fire more shots. I walked up with the intention of firing a shot into his chest, but Khem Ngun (another commander) yelled 'that's enough, he is already dead.'"
Rim and Khem Tem are not defendants. Rim was killed by a land mine in 2004, according to his wife, and Cambodian press accounts have said that Khem Tem died in a road accident in neighboring Thailand.
Howes, who was 37 at the time and a former soldier, won praise while a prisoner for persuading the band of guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and his Cambodian interpreter, Houn Hourth, remained for ransom.
Their fate was a mystery for more than two years, until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said in May 1998 they had firm evidence the two were taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon afterward.
All five defendants appeared in a Phnom Penh court in blue prison uniforms. Among them was Khem Ngun, who other witnesses claim gave the order to kill the two men.
The suspects have been charged with premeditated murder and illegal confinement of persons, crimes punishable by life imprisonment.
Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. At the time, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.
Khem Ngun and two other suspects were arrested last November, while the last two suspects, including his former driver, were arrested in May.
At the time of the first arrests, Howes' father, Roy, who lives in Backwell in southwestern England, said his family would never recover from Christopher's murder.
"These people have wrecked my family," his father said. "The pain is permanently with us."
2 comments:
where is the justice for the millions of khmer victims as well?
ជួនកាល ជីវិតឆ្កែរគេ ក៍ថ្លៃជាងមនុស្សខ្មែរដែរ
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