Appeal: The 63rd Annual Kampuchea Krom Commemoration

An appeal for the Kampuchea Krom Commemoration by Khmer Krom leader Sen. Thach Setha, Executive Director of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community, KKC, Saret Kim, president of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community of Massachusetts, Sophea Thach, member of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community.

In B.E.2493, A.D.1949 France ceded Khmer land, Kampuchea Krom, to Vietnam to continue colonizing her until today. Almost all of fundamental rights of human rights lost.

Imagine if your right to practice religion could be removed from you at any time. Imagine if you could not organize a Kathin ceremony in accordance to the Buddhist Tipitika. Imagine if you have no right to learn your history, your Buddhist heroes, heroes, language and culture. Imagine if you have not right to form an association, you have no right to publish and receive news through various media, radio, TV, internet and print books. Imagine if you have no civil rights at all in government jobs, provincial jobs, armed forces, police force, national educational institution.

In Kampuchea Krom, these are not imaginations. They are real. It is the Vietnam's Apathied, daily discrimination is in the face of the Khmers living on their own ancestral land wherever they go.

Duch Defense Files Acquittal Appeal at Tribunal

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 25 August 2010

In their motion filed Wednesday, his defense said he qualified as “a witness of events during the period of Democratic Kampuchea” and deserving witness protection.

Defense lawyers for Kaing Kek Iev, the Khmer Rouge prison chief better known as Duch, filed their final appeal for his acquittal Wednesday, asking the Supreme Court Chamber to view him as a witness and not a detainee.

Duch was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Trial Chamber last month, receiving a commuted 19 years for his role as supervisor of Tuol Sleng prison.

But in their motion filed Wednesday, his defense said he qualified as “a witness of events during the period of Democratic Kampuchea” and deserving witness protection. Defense also cited reported errors by the Trial Chamber in determining his original non-commuted sentence of 35 years.

Tribunal legal affairs spokesman Lars Olsen said Wednesday it was not known how long the Supreme Court would need to make a determination, but “the scope of the appeal” probably meant no decision until November at the earliest.

The defense team’s appeal went counter to an appeal filed by court prosecutors, who said Duch should receive at least 40 years in jail.

Meanwhile, lawyers for a group of civil party complainants said yesterday they were appealing for five clients to be accepted as legitimate victims of Duch by the Trial Chamber.

During Duch’s verdict last month, the Trial Chamber excluded a total 24 civil party complainants as victims.

Duch Defense Files Acquittal Appeal at Tribunal

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 25 August 2010

In their motion filed Wednesday, his defense said he qualified as “a witness of events during the period of Democratic Kampuchea” and deserving witness protection.

Defense lawyers for Kaing Kek Iev, the Khmer Rouge prison chief better known as Duch, filed their final appeal for his acquittal Wednesday, asking the Supreme Court Chamber to view him as a witness and not a detainee.

Duch was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Trial Chamber last month, receiving a commuted 19 years for his role as supervisor of Tuol Sleng prison.

But in their motion filed Wednesday, his defense said he qualified as “a witness of events during the period of Democratic Kampuchea” and deserving witness protection. Defense also cited reported errors by the Trial Chamber in determining his original non-commuted sentence of 35 years.

Tribunal legal affairs spokesman Lars Olsen said Wednesday it was not known how long the Supreme Court would need to make a determination, but “the scope of the appeal” probably meant no decision until November at the earliest.

The defense team’s appeal went counter to an appeal filed by court prosecutors, who said Duch should receive at least 40 years in jail.

Meanwhile, lawyers for a group of civil party complainants said yesterday they were appealing for five clients to be accepted as legitimate victims of Duch by the Trial Chamber.

During Duch’s verdict last month, the Trial Chamber excluded a total 24 civil party complainants as victims.

Former Khmer Rouge prison chief to appeal sentence

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Robert Carmichael, Phnom Penh
Australia Network News

Former Khmer Rouge prison chief, Comrade Duch, has appealed against his conviction and a 30-year prison sentence handed down by Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court.

The defence team for Comrade Duch has formally appealed the conviction handed down last month by the tribunal in Phnom Penh.

In their submission, lawyers said Duch's conviction and 30-year jail sentence amounted to a miscarriage of justice, and claimed their client did not fall within the court's remit.

They added that the sentence smacked of victor's justice, and said he ought to be acquitted and released.

No date has been set for the appeal.

Duch headed the Khmer Rouge's key torture and execution centre known as S-21, where thousands died during the movement's rule of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.

Four other senior Khmer Rouge figures are currently in pre-trial detention, and are likely to go on trial early next year.

Lawyers for Cambodian war criminal appeal court decision

Wed, 25 Aug 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - Defence lawyers have formally appealed the guilty verdicts handed down to Comrade Duch, the former Khmer Rouge cadre who was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity last month, the court confirmed Wednesday.

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.

Last month, the court sentenced the 67-year-old to 30 years. With an 11-year deduction for time served, Duch will serve 19 years, a term many Cambodians felt was too lenient.

In their appeal, Duch's defence team called on the tribunal to acquit him, saying the conviction was "a miscarriage of justice."

Duch's lawyers claimed he did not fall within the remit of those who ought to be tried by the UN-backed tribunal, and said the court had erred in applying international law over Cambodian civil law.

"All this seems to suggest that the [tribunal] applied victor's justice and that it was established for the sole purpose of prosecuting Duch," his lawyers wrote.

They said Duch ought to be considered a witness of the regime's crimes rather than a perpetrator.

Earlier this month the prosecution announced it too would appeal the sentence, saying it wanted the court to impose a term of 40 years after all deductions were made.

The prosecutors said judges had given "insufficient weight to the gravity of Duch's crimes and his role and his willing participation in those crimes."

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 1975-79. Just a handful survived the prison.

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.

Khmer Rouge jailer 'will appeal'

Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Al Jazeera

The former chief jailer of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge will appeal against his conviction handed down by Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal, his lawyer has said.

Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was sentenced to 35 years in jail earlier this week.

He is the first former Khmer Rouge leader to face trial for war crimes during the group's brutal rule over Cambodia in the 1970s.

Duch ran the S-21 prison where up to 14,000 people were reportedly tortured and killed between 1975 and 1979.

"We will appeal against the [court's] decision," Kar Savuth, Duch's lawyer, told AFP by telephone.

He had said previously that Duch, a former Math teacher, wanted to be acquitted on the grounds that he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge hierarchy.

Prosecutors, who had sought a 40-year jail term from the tribunal, have said they are considering whether to appeal against the reduced jail time given by the court.

Passing sentence on Monday the judges in the special court reduced Duch's jail sentence on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years before the tribunal was established.

Judge Nil Nonn shaved 16 years off the 35-year sentence for time already served and for illegal detention in a military prison.

But Andrew Cayley, an international co-prosecutor, told AFP on Tuesday he thought it was a "logical, well-reasoned judgment".

"You must recall that this is a man who actually acknowledged responsibility and pleaded guilty but still received a sentence of 35 years, which is actually on the high side as far as guilty pleas are concerned," Cayley said.

Led by Pol Pot, the so-called Khmer Rouge "Brother Number One", the movement wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and execution in the notorious "killing fields".

Pol Pot died in 1998 but four other Khmer Rouge leaders, all said to be more senior than Duch, are in custody awaiting trial.

"Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former head of state Khieu Samphan, the former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife Ieng Thirith, who was the minister of social affairs, are expected to go on trial next year.

Convicted Khmer Rouge prison chief to appeal: lawyer

(Photo: Reuters)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) - – Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch will appeal against his conviction by Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal, which sentenced him to 30 years in jail, his defence lawyer said Tuesday.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the court on Monday in a ruling that has been hailed as a "historic milestone" in tackling impunity in the country.

He is the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal over crimes committed under the 1975-1979 hardline communist regime.

The 67-year-old was initially handed 35 years but the court reduced the jail sentence on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years before the UN-backed tribunal was established.

"We will appeal against the (court's) decision," Duch's lawyer Kar Savuth told AFP by telephone, without elaborating.

Many survivors and relatives of victims were dismayed by the verdict, which also took into account the years Duch has served since his arrest in 1999, meaning that he could walk free in about 19 years.

"He only apologised to the judges. Duch didn't apologise to the victims," said Chum Mey, 79, one of the handful who survived the prison because his mechanical skills were put to use repairing sewing machines and water pumps.

Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Tuesday told reporters: "From my own point of view, not that of the government... the sentence is not suitable.

"Tens of thousands of people were tortured at Tuol Sleng and killed at Choeung Ek (a former orchard) -- it appears that the sentencing is too light."

But UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia Surya Subedi welcomed the verdict against Duch as a "historic milestone".

"I hope that this landmark conviction will serve as a catalyst for the government to address impunity and accelerate its legal and judicial reforms," Subedi said in a statement.

During his trial, Duch repeatedly apologised for overseeing the mass murder of 15,000 men, women and children at Tuol Sleng prison -- also known as S-21 -- but shocked the court in November by finally asking to be acquitted.

Kar Savuth in November said Duch wanted to be acquitted on the grounds that he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge hierarchy, while his other defence lawyer Francois Roux had argued for leniency based on his contrition.

Duch then sacked Roux for "loss of confidence", just weeks before a verdict.

Roux in November the about-face was a "bad surprise" and apparently linked to political interference in the trial, noting that premier Hun Sen -- himself a former Khmer Rouge cadre before turning against the movement -- had previously said he hoped the tribunal would fail.

Duch's appeal for release "calls into question Duch's plea of culpability, but also the competence of the court," the French lawyer told AFP at the time.

But after the verdict Roux, who is now head of the defence section for the UN special tribunal for Lebanon, said he hoped it helped reconciliation with Duch.

"I express my hopes that this trial, including the cooperation of the accused to justice, has provided an initial response to the Cambodian people about the tragedy he has lived," Roux said in a statement.

Prosecutors have said they are considering whether to appeal against the sentence. They had sought a 40-year prison term from the tribunal, which did not have the power to impose the death penalty.

But international co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley told AFP Tuesday he thought it was a "logical, well-reasoned judgment".

"You must recall that this is a man who actually acknowledged responsibility and pleaded guilty but still received a sentence of 35 years, which is actually on the high side as far as guilty pleas are concerned," Cayley said.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork and execution.

Appeal from the Sralanh Khmer newspaper

Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Kingdom of Cambodia
Nation – Religion – King

Sralanh Khmer

APPEAL

“Sralanh Khmer” is an independent and neutral newspaper which publishes information about the current issues in the Cambodian society, such as border issues, illegal immigrants, corrupt judicial system, recent political events inside the country, and the application of the multi-party democracy system in Cambodia.

We need to add additional personnel to our staff, and we also need to buy office equipments, such as voice recorders, photo cameras etc… in order to complete our work on time. Therefore, we are appealing to all our Cambodian Brothers and Sisters, both inside and outside the country to help us, in terms of equipments and financial supports, in order to give us the ability to continue our expanded mission to serve the Cambodian Nation, and to participate in the push for progress in our society to bring it on par with that in other advanced countries in the world.

We are thanking you very much and we hope to see the generous participation from all sources of our Cambodian Brothers and Sisters.

Your participation is an encouragement and a push for the advancement and the progress of democracy in Cambodia.

Thank you.

For further information, please contact:

Phone:
(855) 12 851 991
(855) 12 445 040
(855) 12 45 2005

Fax:
(855) 23 997 765

Emails:
kksnews@yahoo.com

Website:
www.slknews.blogspot.com

List of Equipments and Funding needed by the office of Sralanh Khmer Newspaper:

1. Two (2) computers system
2. Two (2) cameras and two (2) voice recorders
3. Addition of two (2) staff members at a cost of $300 each per month (Monthly salary of each staff member is $150)
4. Rental cost and utility fees: $130 per month

Kiwi’s Cambodian Appeal Went Well: Lawyer

05 Jul 2007
Newswire.co.nz (New Zealand)

The lawyer for a New Zealand man convicted of sex charges in Cambodia says his latest appeal hearing went well and they presented a good case.

Graham Cleghorn was convicted in 2004 of raping five women who worked for him, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Yesterday, a Cambodia court heard Cleghorn's appeal in private, after a previous appeal was abandoned when witnesses were not summoned.

Cleghorn's Cambodian lawyer, Ry Ourky, says three out of the five complainants were cross-examined.

A decision on the appeal will be made next week.

NRP to appeal Ranariddh's sentence

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Muth Chantha, NRP spokesman, told the Koh Santepheap newspaper on Tuesday that the NRP filed its case with the appeal court on 29 May regarding the 18-month jail sentence in absentia handed down on Prince Ranariddh on 13 March, for breach of trust in the sale of Funcinpec party headquarters. Muth Chantha said that the appeal is one way to legally resolve against the sentence handed down by the Phnom Penh municipal court. Muth Chantha said that if the appeal court finds that the Phnom Penh municipal court decision is wrong, then it can void the sentence, however, if the appeal court maintain the sentence handed down by the Phnom Penh municipal court, then this could lead to a request for pardon from the king.