Khmer Rouge defendant denied release by UN court

Wednesday, December 14, 2011
By Suy Se (AFP)

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal on Tuesday ruled against freeing the Khmer Rouge's ailing former "First Lady" on health grounds, and said she would undergo medical treatment instead.

The court's highest appeal body overturned a decision last month to unconditionally release Ieng Thirith, 79, after experts said she was unfit for trial because she has dementia and most likely Alzheimer's disease.

"The supreme court chamber concluded that the original ground for keeping the accused in provisional detention, namely to ensure her presence during the proceedings, remains valid and relevant," judges said in a statement.

They added that the former social affairs minister would be transferred to a hospital or similar facility for medical treatment "which may help improve her mental health to such an extent that she becomes fit to stand trial".

Her case will then be reviewed "no later than six months" after the start of her treatment, the judges said.

Court spokesman Lars Olsen said it was unclear how soon Ieng Thirith would be moved from the detention facility where she has been held since 2007 with three co-accused, all former regime leaders.

"I can't say how long it will take but obviously it's a pressing matter," Olsen told AFP.

Judges admitted, however, that the chance of Ieng Thirith recovering enough to answer to charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity was "slight" as psychiatric reports have said her condition is unlikely to improve.

Freeing Ieng Thirith -- who was the sister-in-law of regime leader Pol Pot -- would have dismayed many Khmer Rouge survivors still haunted by the horrors of the 1975-1979 regime, blamed for the deaths of up to two million people.

Prominent Khmer Rouge survivor Chum Mey, 80, one of just a handful of people to walk out of a notorious torture prison alive, welcomed the decision.

"As a victim, I'm very happy with the ruling. The court took the right action," he said.

Trial monitor Clair Duffy from the US-based Open Society Justice Initiative said she was puzzled by the decision to re-examine Ieng Thirith's fitness in several months' time.

"Medical experts said there was next to no likelihood of her even being mentally fit to stand trial," she said. "All in all, I'm confused about this outcome."

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population through starvation, overwork and executions in a bid to create an agrarian utopia.

Last month's ruling on Ieng Thirith's health came just days before the start of a long-awaited trial in which she was due to appear alongside her husband and former foreign minister Ieng Sary, "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan.

Because of her mental health affliction, Ieng Thirith is not part of these proceedings.

On Tuesday, the tribunal continued to hear evidence against the remaining three defendants in the first part of the trial, which focuses on charges of forced movement of the population and related crimes against humanity.

Nuon Chea, 85, repeated his now familiar stance that the Vietnamese and "bad elements" within the Khmer Rouge were responsible for the horrors under the regime. He was excused after he said he felt exhausted.

A frail-looking Ieng Sary, sitting in a wheelchair, then took his place in the dock, where the 86-year-old spoke only to confirm personal information such as his name and age before reiterating that he did not wish to testify.

He left the courtroom soon after complaining of back pain, underscoring the health concerns that hang over the trial of the elderly accused.

The hearing ended with Khieu Samphan, 80, reading out a lengthy statement insisting that he was a mere figurehead who had no power under the regime.

"It was seen from the outside that I was holding a senior position but I did not participate in any decision making processes," he said.