By GRANT PECK
Associated Press
Testimony begins Monday at Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal 30 years after the ouster of the Khmer Rouge, and millions of Cambodians, including survivors and relatives of victims, are expected to watch on TV.
Prosecutors will present their case against Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the revolutionary name Duch, who headed the ultra-communist group's main torture center. He is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide.
Duch, 66, is one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders being held for trial by the tribunal. An estimated 1.7 people died during the group's rule in the late 1970s from starvation, medical neglect, slave-like working conditions and execution.
The trial before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, as the tribunal is called, comes three decades after the Khmer Rouge were toppled by a Vietnamese invasion, 13 years after the tribunal was first proposed and nearly three years after the court was inaugurated. Political wrangling, corruption scandals and inadequate financing contributed to the delays.
Duch headed S-21 prison, the largest Khmer Rouge prison, from which as many as 16,000 men, women and children are believed to have been sent to their deaths, typically after undergoing gruesome torture.
Technically his trial _ the tribunal's first _ opened in February, when the judges ruled on procedural issues such as scheduling and witnesses.
But Monday's hearing is the start of the substantive part of the trial, including the first chance for Duch to publicly tell his story as well as be confronted by the families of victims.
"Duch acknowledges the facts he's being charged with," his French lawyer, Francois Roux, said last month. "Duch wishes to ask forgiveness from the victims but also from the Cambodian people. He will do so publicly. This is the very least he owes the victims."
Helen Jarvis, a tribunal spokeswoman, said it will be "enormously important" for the public to finally see Duch admit responsibility for his part in the events.
"I don't think we can overestimate the importance of this occasion," she said.
State television and radio are to broadcast Monday's proceedings live.
"We expect that 70 percent of Cambodia's 14.3 million people will follow the trial through TV and radio during the first day of the trial," Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said. The verdict at the end of the trial also is to be broadcast live.
Chan Sim, a retired professor of fine arts, said he will be watching Monday.
"It is a day for which I have waiting for more than 30 years. I want all people to watch together and see the face of the criminal," said Chan Sim, who lost eight relatives under the Khmer Rouge.
"Duch deserves to be punished because he has committed crimes that the world, the Cambodians and the Lord Buddha cannot forgive," he said.
Prosecutor Robert Petit said Friday he hopes the full story of the victims, the reasons why S-21 existed and the motivation of the defendant will be revealed so "the record is set once and for all."
"What matters is all the right evidence is put before the judges so they can establish the truth for all to see," he said.
Prosecutors will present their case against Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the revolutionary name Duch, who headed the ultra-communist group's main torture center. He is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide.
Duch, 66, is one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders being held for trial by the tribunal. An estimated 1.7 people died during the group's rule in the late 1970s from starvation, medical neglect, slave-like working conditions and execution.
The trial before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, as the tribunal is called, comes three decades after the Khmer Rouge were toppled by a Vietnamese invasion, 13 years after the tribunal was first proposed and nearly three years after the court was inaugurated. Political wrangling, corruption scandals and inadequate financing contributed to the delays.
Duch headed S-21 prison, the largest Khmer Rouge prison, from which as many as 16,000 men, women and children are believed to have been sent to their deaths, typically after undergoing gruesome torture.
Technically his trial _ the tribunal's first _ opened in February, when the judges ruled on procedural issues such as scheduling and witnesses.
But Monday's hearing is the start of the substantive part of the trial, including the first chance for Duch to publicly tell his story as well as be confronted by the families of victims.
"Duch acknowledges the facts he's being charged with," his French lawyer, Francois Roux, said last month. "Duch wishes to ask forgiveness from the victims but also from the Cambodian people. He will do so publicly. This is the very least he owes the victims."
Helen Jarvis, a tribunal spokeswoman, said it will be "enormously important" for the public to finally see Duch admit responsibility for his part in the events.
"I don't think we can overestimate the importance of this occasion," she said.
State television and radio are to broadcast Monday's proceedings live.
"We expect that 70 percent of Cambodia's 14.3 million people will follow the trial through TV and radio during the first day of the trial," Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said. The verdict at the end of the trial also is to be broadcast live.
Chan Sim, a retired professor of fine arts, said he will be watching Monday.
"It is a day for which I have waiting for more than 30 years. I want all people to watch together and see the face of the criminal," said Chan Sim, who lost eight relatives under the Khmer Rouge.
"Duch deserves to be punished because he has committed crimes that the world, the Cambodians and the Lord Buddha cannot forgive," he said.
Prosecutor Robert Petit said Friday he hopes the full story of the victims, the reasons why S-21 existed and the motivation of the defendant will be revealed so "the record is set once and for all."
"What matters is all the right evidence is put before the judges so they can establish the truth for all to see," he said.
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