Five former KRouge claim innocence in trial for killing Briton

Friday, October 03, 2008

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Five former Khmer Rouge fighters told a Cambodian court Friday they were innocent of the 1996 kidnapping and killing of a British mine clearer and his translator.

The former guerrillas appeared in blue prison uniforms at Phnom Penh Municipal Court to answer charges of premeditated murder and illegal confinement, and could face life in prison if convicted.

They stand accused of shooting Christopher Howes and translator Huon Huot a few days after seizing the pair and other members of their mine clearance team near the famed Angkor Wat temples in northwest Cambodia.

All five suspects -- Khem Ngun, Puth Lim, Sin Dorn, Loch Mao, and Cheap Chet -- were arrested over the past year, nearly a decade after a joint investigation into the incident by British and Cambodian police.

Khem Ngun, who served under notorious Khmer Rouge commander Ta Mok, was allegedly the one who ordered the fighters under his control to shoot Howes and Huon Huot.

But Khem Ngun claimed the order to kill the prisoners came from deceased Khmer Rouge commander Khem Tem and was carried out by a soldier named Rin.

"Another Khmer Rouge soldier close to Ta Mok ordered the shooting of Howes in the head, and then I turned my face away and felt shock," Khem Ngun told the court.

Khem Ngun was serving as a major general in the Cambodian military when he was arrested in November last year. The other suspects had become civil servants.

At the time of the killings, the communist Khmer Rouge were battling government troops in the final years of Cambodia's drawn-out civil war.

Howes, 37, refused a chance to leave his kidnapped team of 20 mine clearers from the Britain-based Mines Advisory Group to retrieve a ransom.

While the rest of the team was eventually released, Howes and Huon Huot were taken deeper into rebel-held territory and killed.

Their remains were found in 1998, the same year Cambodia's civil war ended when the Khmer Rouge movement disintegrated.

The verdict would be announced October 14, said presiding judge Iu Kim Sri.

Cambodia is littered with millions of land mines and other unexploded ordnance from nearly three decades of conflict.

Ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers tried for murder of Briton

Khem Ngun, center, a former Khmer Rouge soldier, is escorted by police out of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Oct. 3, 2008. Five former Khmer Rouge soldiers went on trial Friday for their alleged involvement in the killing of a British mine-clearing expert and his Cambodian colleague 12 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Friday, October 3, 2008
By KER MUNTHIT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Five former Khmer Rouge soldiers accused of killing a British mine-clearing expert and his Cambodian colleague 12 years ago testified Friday that two other soldiers — now believed dead — were instead responsible for the murders.

Their testimony came on the opening day of the trial for the murder of Christopher Howes, who was abducted in March 1996 by the Khmer Rouge along with Cambodian co-workers while clearing mines near Angkor Wat, the famed 12th century temple complex in the country's northwest.

The defendants gave vivid accounts of the execution of Howes, which prosecutor Hing Bun Chea told the court came after his killers offered him a final meal of apples and durian, a tropical fruit known for its pungent aroma.

They said a Khmer Rouge commander named Khem Tem ordered a guerrilla soldier named Rim to shoot Howes in the head.

"Howes fell backward. It was one single shot," said defendant Loch Mao. "Khem Tem then ordered me to fire more shots. I walked up with the intention of firing a shot into his chest, but Khem Ngun (another commander) yelled 'that's enough, he is already dead.'"

Rim and Khem Tem are not defendants. Rim was killed by a land mine in 2004, according to his wife, and Cambodian press accounts have said that Khem Tem died in a road accident in neighboring Thailand.

Howes, who was 37 at the time and a former soldier, won praise while a prisoner for persuading the band of guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and his Cambodian interpreter, Houn Hourth, remained for ransom.

Their fate was a mystery for more than two years, until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said in May 1998 they had firm evidence the two were taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon afterward.

All five defendants appeared in a Phnom Penh court in blue prison uniforms. Among them was Khem Ngun, who other witnesses claim gave the order to kill the two men.

The suspects have been charged with premeditated murder and illegal confinement of persons, crimes punishable by life imprisonment.

Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. At the time, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.

Khem Ngun and two other suspects were arrested last November, while the last two suspects, including his former driver, were arrested in May.

At the time of the first arrests, Howes' father, Roy, who lives in Backwell in southwestern England, said his family would never recover from Christopher's murder.

"These people have wrecked my family," his father said. "The pain is permanently with us."

Ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers tried for murder of Briton

Friday, October 3, 2008
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Five former Khmer Rouge soldiers went on trial Friday for their alleged involvement in the killing of a British mine-clearing expert and his Cambodian colleague 12 years ago.

Christopher Howes was abducted in March 1996 by the Khmer Rouge along with a group of his Cambodian co-workers while clearing mines near Angkor Wat, the famed 12th century temple complex in the country's northwest.

Howes, who was 37 at the time and a former soldier, persuaded the band of guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and his Cambodian interpreter, Houn Hourth, remained for ransom.

Their fate was a mystery for more than two years, until a team of detectives at Britain's Scotland Yard said in May 1998 they had firm evidence the two were taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon after the abduction.

All five defendants appeared in a Phnom Penh court in blue prison uniforms. Among them was Khem Ngun, a former guerrilla commander who witnesses claim gave the order to kill the two men.

The suspects have been charged with premeditated murder and illegal confinement of persons, crimes punishable by life imprisonment.

Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. At the time, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.

Khem Ngun and two other suspects were arrested last November, while the last two suspects, including his former driver, were arrested in May.

At the time of the first arrests, Howes' father, Roy, who lives in Backwell in southwest England, said his family would never recover from Christopher's murder.

"These people have wrecked my family," his father said. "The pain is permanently with us."

Former Khmer Rouge Detained Over Unsolved 1996 Murder

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 November 2007

Phnom Penh Municipal Court Wednesday detained former Khmer Rouge general Khem Ngun and his subordinate, Loch Mao, for the execution of a British deminer and his Cambodian translator more than 10 years ago.

Christopher Howes and Huon Huot were killed in a kidnapping and ransom scam in Anlong Veng in 1996.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court Deputy Director Ke Sakhan said the courts had been unable to prosecute the case earlier because of civil strife.

"Loch Mao and Khem Ngun escaped into the jungle," he said. "We were not able to arrest them. They did not integrate with the government until 1998. They committed the killing in 1996."

"I arrested them with the court's warrant, which involved the killing of an English deminer and his Khmer translator in 1996," said Lt. Gen. Sao Sokha, a police spokesman.

Former Khmer Rouge officers arrested over killing of British mine clearance expert

Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Two former Khmer Rouge officers have been arrested over their alleged role in the killing of a British mine clearance expert and his Cambodian interpreter 11 years ago, officials said Wednesday.

Ke Sakhan, a Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge, said he charged Khem Ngun and Loch Mao on Tuesday with premeditated murder and illegal confinement of persons.

The judge said the men were charged in the death of Christopher Howes, a British mine clearance expert, and Huon Huot, his Cambodian interpreter, in 1996.

Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. Loch Mao became a local government official after leaving the Khmer Rouge, which collapsed in 1998.

Howes' 80-year-old father, Roy Howes, said he was pleased by the arrests, not only for himself and the interpreter's family, but also "for the people of Cambodia."

"These people have wrecked my family," he told The Associated Press from his home in Backwell, England. "We have never, ever recovered from this. The pain is permanently with us. "

Ke Sakhan said he ordered both suspects held in pretrial detention, which can last up to six months.

The maximum punishment for premeditated murder is 20 years in prison and for illegal confinement is 10 years.

Howes, of Bristol, England, and a group of his Cambodian co-workers were abducted in March 1996 by Khmer Rouge guerrillas while clearing mines in an isolated area about 17 kilometers (10 miles) north of the Angkor Wat temple, the country's most popular tourist destination.

Howes, who was 37 years old at the time, persuaded the guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and Huon Huot remained hostages for ransom.

Their fate was unknown until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said about two years later that they had firm evidence the two had been taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon after their abduction.

Witnesses said Khem Ngun had given the order to kill Howes.

However, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.

Khem Ngun was taken from his home in Siem Reap province Monday, said Col. Prak Chanthoeun, the deputy commander of military police in the province.

He said police arrested Loch Mao at his home in Anlong Veng, where he has been serving as a deputy district chief.

The British Embassy in Phnom Penh welcomed the arrests and the progress made in "this long-standing case," spokesman Chantha Kim said in an e-mail.