By Suy Se
AAP
LAWYERS for former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch will call for his release when Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court begins hearing appeals against his 30-year sentence.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was found guilty in July of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people at the notorious torture prison Tuol Sleng in the late 1970s.
He was the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal.
During his trial, the jailer repeatedly apologised for overseeing mass murder at the detention centre - also known as S-21 - but shocked the court by finally asking to be acquitted in November 2009.
In their appeal hearing today, Duch's lawyers plan to argue that the court has no jurisdiction over their client because he was not one of the regime's senior leaders, nor one of those most responsible for the crimes committed.
"The court is not allowed to try a person that does not fall into one of those two groups," defence lawyer Kang Ritheary told Agence France Presse, adding that Duch was only following orders.
The 68-year-old was initially given 35 years in jail but the court reduced the sentence on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years.
Taking into account time already served, Duch could walk free in less than 19 years, to the dismay of many victims of the 1975-1979 hardline communist movement.
Prosecutors, whose appeal will be heard tomorrow, are hoping to have Duch's sentence increased to life, to be commuted to 45 years for time served in unlawful detention.
They say in their appeal brief that the verdict did "not adequately reflect the seriousness of the crimes or the respondent's role in those crimes".
They also want enslavement, imprisonment, torture, rape, extermination and other inhumane acts to be added to Duch's list of convictions.
The tribunal's Supreme Court Chamber is expected to announce its ruling on the appeals in late June.
Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and execution.
S-21 in Phnom Penh was at the centre of the regime's security apparatus and thousands of inmates were taken from there for execution in a nearby orchard.
Duch has been detained since 1999, when he was found working as a Christian aid worker in the jungle. He was formally arrested by the tribunal in July 2007.
Four more of the regime's former members - including "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea - are due to go trial later this year and Duch is expected to appear as a witness in the case.
5 comments:
"...During his trial, the jailer repeatedly apologised for overseeing mass murder at the detention centre - also known as S-21 - but shocked the court by finally asking to be acquitted in November 2009...."
Duch is certainly a coward who continues to try to run away from accepting his responsibility in the killing of so many innocent Cambodians.
Come on, comrade; be brave and accept the consequences of your brutal and inhumane actions.
The court treated you much better than how you treated your prisoners in the late 70s.
Shame on you who should not have been born in the land of Angkor.
Anet Khmer
Mr or Ms 11:32 AM
I agree with you. What Duch is doing now contradicts with what Duch said when the trial started and during the trial process.
Now everbody understands that Duch remains Duch. He has never changed.
How can I forgive him?
A survivor of the KR regime.
I never forgive and not forget what Duch has done to innocent people.
He has been pity the men,women,and
children,how come Khmer people are
pity on him.Khmer people must revenge
what he has had done to the victims.
Go to hell ah Duch!
The paradise is in your heart and the
hell is in your chest.Duch,you has had black heart.
Duch received order from Nuon Chea to kill all of the prisoners,
he had no choice,
more than that most of those prisoners were Khmer rouges themself,
Republican Cambodians were not killed there, we were killed by Phou-ma-phiak, Dombon, Srok, Sahakor..
Dear all Khmer on this great blog:
Personally I condemn any kind of killing innocent Khmer people .
Let me bring you some attention regarding to Duch trial.
In Pol Pot regime there were more than 100 prisons in Cambodia between 1975-1979.
S 21 prison located in the capital city of Phnom Penh between 1975-1979 and we all know that those who lived in Phnom Penh in those years they all were Khmer Rouge and Khmer Viet Minh not common people especially city people who were evacuated from the city .
So part of 2 million of innocent Khmer people were killed by so many other prisons in those days but not by S 21 .
So as S 21 prison chief Duch killed Khmer Rouge cadres and Khmer Viet Minh like Kea Meas.
So once again if we really want justice for 2 million of innocent Khmer victims Duch is not the right guy in term of justice for 2 million of Khmer people who passed away between 1975-1979 .
But if you want justice because Duch detained, tortured and killed Khmer Rouge cadres families and Khmer Viet Minh Duch is the right guy.
Note: I personally condemn any kind of killing khmer people.
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