The then-"victimized" Prince Norodom Sihanouk giving a speech in the Khmer Rouge liberation zone in Cambodia, circa 1973. Khieu Samphan, the KR leader who could be charged by the KR Tribunal can be seen applauding next to then-Prince Sihanouk.Friday August 24, 2007
(Kyodo) - The Cambodian government said Friday former King Norodom Sihanouk would retain his immunity from any prosecution ahead of the planned trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders.
The government said in a statement that Sihanouk was "a victim of the war in Indochina, caused by the intervention of foreign powers, and of the resultant Khmer Rouge regime in which His Majesty lost 14 members of his family."
The statement was made in response to a recent call by the U.S.-based Cambodian Action Committee for Justice and Equity for Cambodian Overseas for Sihanouk's immunity to be lifted to pave the way for a joint U.N.-Cambodian tribunal to investigate his role, if any, in the deaths of some 1.7 million Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge regime.
According to several publications, Sihanouk, 84, was invited as a nominal leader for about a year soon after the Democratic Kampuchea regime took power in 1975.
Currently, only Kaing Khek Ieu, better known as Duch, a former Khmer Rouge prison chief, is being detained awaiting trial by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
Other surviving leaders including Nuon Chea, better known as brother No. 2, Ieng Sary, a former foreign minister, and Khieu Samphan, a former head of state, are living freely.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998.
Sihanouk abdicated in 2004 in favor of his son, King Norodom Sihamoni.
The government said in a statement that Sihanouk was "a victim of the war in Indochina, caused by the intervention of foreign powers, and of the resultant Khmer Rouge regime in which His Majesty lost 14 members of his family."
The statement was made in response to a recent call by the U.S.-based Cambodian Action Committee for Justice and Equity for Cambodian Overseas for Sihanouk's immunity to be lifted to pave the way for a joint U.N.-Cambodian tribunal to investigate his role, if any, in the deaths of some 1.7 million Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge regime.
According to several publications, Sihanouk, 84, was invited as a nominal leader for about a year soon after the Democratic Kampuchea regime took power in 1975.
Currently, only Kaing Khek Ieu, better known as Duch, a former Khmer Rouge prison chief, is being detained awaiting trial by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
Other surviving leaders including Nuon Chea, better known as brother No. 2, Ieng Sary, a former foreign minister, and Khieu Samphan, a former head of state, are living freely.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998.
Sihanouk abdicated in 2004 in favor of his son, King Norodom Sihamoni.
