PHNOM PENH (AFP)--Judges on Thursday delayed an appeal by a former Khmer Rouge foreign minister for release from Cambodia's U.N.-backed war crimes court on health grounds, accepting that he was too ill to make his case.
Ieng Sary, 83, is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes but is asking for release from detention before trial on the grounds that life in jail is making him ill.
The decision to grant the postponement came despite accusations from the prosecution that he was trying to delay proceedings.
Judge Prak Kimsan told the court the appeal hearing was adjourned "because of the health condition of the charged person," and would resume Apr. 2.
Ieng Sary didn't attend Thursday's hearing, which occurred three days after he was hospitalized for blood in his urine.
He was discharged and sent back to his cell at the court Wednesday afternoon but his lawyer, Michael Karnavas, told judges he declined to appear because he was "very frail and gets high blood pressure."
Karnavas, a U.S. citizen, urged judges to provisionally release his client from jail and demanded a medical examination to see whether he was fit for trial.
"Pretrial detention is not a formal punishment and should not be used as formal punishment," the lawyer said. "A decision has to be made as to whether Mr. Ieng Sary is fit to stand trial physically or psychologically."
Ieng Sary has been rushed to hospital nine times since he was detained by the court in November 2007, and Karnavas has previously argued that staying in jail would kill him.
Karnavas told reporters he was interpreting Thursday's decision as a victory in his client's attempt to convince judges to release him.
Ieng Sary is one of five top regime cadres detained by the joint Cambodia-U.N. tribunal that was established in 2006, after nearly a decade of haggling over how to deliver justice for one of the 20th century's bloodiest episodes.
Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed, as the Khmer Rouge's 1975 to 1979 regime emptied Cambodia's cities in its drive to create a communist utopia.
As the top Khmer Rouge diplomat, Ieng Sary was frequently the only point of contact between Cambodia's secretive communist rulers and the outside world.
He has denied any involvement in past atrocities but researchers say he was also one of the biggest public supporters of the regime's mass purges.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998 before facing justice, and fears over the health of aging suspects hang over the court.
Ieng Sary, 83, is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes but is asking for release from detention before trial on the grounds that life in jail is making him ill.
The decision to grant the postponement came despite accusations from the prosecution that he was trying to delay proceedings.
Judge Prak Kimsan told the court the appeal hearing was adjourned "because of the health condition of the charged person," and would resume Apr. 2.
Ieng Sary didn't attend Thursday's hearing, which occurred three days after he was hospitalized for blood in his urine.
He was discharged and sent back to his cell at the court Wednesday afternoon but his lawyer, Michael Karnavas, told judges he declined to appear because he was "very frail and gets high blood pressure."
Karnavas, a U.S. citizen, urged judges to provisionally release his client from jail and demanded a medical examination to see whether he was fit for trial.
"Pretrial detention is not a formal punishment and should not be used as formal punishment," the lawyer said. "A decision has to be made as to whether Mr. Ieng Sary is fit to stand trial physically or psychologically."
Ieng Sary has been rushed to hospital nine times since he was detained by the court in November 2007, and Karnavas has previously argued that staying in jail would kill him.
Karnavas told reporters he was interpreting Thursday's decision as a victory in his client's attempt to convince judges to release him.
Ieng Sary is one of five top regime cadres detained by the joint Cambodia-U.N. tribunal that was established in 2006, after nearly a decade of haggling over how to deliver justice for one of the 20th century's bloodiest episodes.
Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed, as the Khmer Rouge's 1975 to 1979 regime emptied Cambodia's cities in its drive to create a communist utopia.
As the top Khmer Rouge diplomat, Ieng Sary was frequently the only point of contact between Cambodia's secretive communist rulers and the outside world.
He has denied any involvement in past atrocities but researchers say he was also one of the biggest public supporters of the regime's mass purges.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998 before facing justice, and fears over the health of aging suspects hang over the court.
