DPA
Phnom Penh - The prosecution at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal on Monday said it would appeal the 30-year sentence handed down to Comrade Duch, the former Khmer Rouge cadre convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity last month.
After deducting 11 years for time already served, the court had ruled the 67-year-old should serve a further 19 years in prison.
International co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley told the German Press Agency dpa the prosecution would seek to have Duch's sentence increased to a full 40-year term after all deductions.
Cayley said the prosecution's decision to appeal the verdict - which many in Cambodia condemned as too lenient - was based on a number of factors.
"We are responding to both our own detailed analysis of the judgment on the sentencing, and also obviously to the public reaction, because we have an obligation to both," Cayley said.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, headed the Khmer Rouge's notorious torture and execution centre in Phnom Penh known as S-21.
An estimated 20,000 people were tortured and condemned to death at S-21 as perceived enemies of the regime during the movement's rule of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. Just a handful survived the prison.
In a statement, the prosecution team said the judgement gave "insufficient weight to the gravity of Duch's crimes and his role and his willing participation in those crimes."
The prosecution also said the judges had placed undue weight on mitigating circumstances, such as Duch's professions of remorse and his cooperation with the court.
Cayley said the criticism and disappointment felt by many Cambodians after the Duch verdict showed the tribunal needed to explain its role better.
"I don't think we should be quoting (sentencing) figures at them from international courts, because the situation here is somewhat different," he said. "We are talking of over 10,000 people that perished at S-21, and that's unusual."
Four former Khmer Rouge leaders are in detention for their alleged involvement in the deaths of 1.7 million people from execution, disease, starvation and overwork.
The four, whose trials are expected to start early next year, are: Brother Number Two Nuon Chea, the movement's ideologue; head of state Khieu Samphan; foreign minister Ieng Sary; and his wife, the social affairs minister Ieng Thirith.
The movement's leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.
After deducting 11 years for time already served, the court had ruled the 67-year-old should serve a further 19 years in prison.
International co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley told the German Press Agency dpa the prosecution would seek to have Duch's sentence increased to a full 40-year term after all deductions.
Cayley said the prosecution's decision to appeal the verdict - which many in Cambodia condemned as too lenient - was based on a number of factors.
"We are responding to both our own detailed analysis of the judgment on the sentencing, and also obviously to the public reaction, because we have an obligation to both," Cayley said.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, headed the Khmer Rouge's notorious torture and execution centre in Phnom Penh known as S-21.
An estimated 20,000 people were tortured and condemned to death at S-21 as perceived enemies of the regime during the movement's rule of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. Just a handful survived the prison.
In a statement, the prosecution team said the judgement gave "insufficient weight to the gravity of Duch's crimes and his role and his willing participation in those crimes."
The prosecution also said the judges had placed undue weight on mitigating circumstances, such as Duch's professions of remorse and his cooperation with the court.
Cayley said the criticism and disappointment felt by many Cambodians after the Duch verdict showed the tribunal needed to explain its role better.
"I don't think we should be quoting (sentencing) figures at them from international courts, because the situation here is somewhat different," he said. "We are talking of over 10,000 people that perished at S-21, and that's unusual."
Four former Khmer Rouge leaders are in detention for their alleged involvement in the deaths of 1.7 million people from execution, disease, starvation and overwork.
The four, whose trials are expected to start early next year, are: Brother Number Two Nuon Chea, the movement's ideologue; head of state Khieu Samphan; foreign minister Ieng Sary; and his wife, the social affairs minister Ieng Thirith.
The movement's leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.
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