“He [Khieu Samphan] and others leaders gave orders to their people to do everything”: Meas Channa, Khieu Samphan's former cook

Meas Channa, a former cook for three of the Khmer Rouge leaders on trial, attends the ECCC yesterday. (Photo by: Mai Vireak)

KR leader’s wife, cook paint different pictures


Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

Two tenants of the Royal Palace during the Khmer Rouge regime who attended the tribunal yesterday have polarized views on the culpability of former president and one-time Royal Palace resident Khieu Samphan.

In a simple blue shirt and sampot, 60-year-old Sar Socheat looked like an ordinary middle-class woman, not the wife of an ex-president who once lived under the same roof as King Father Norodom Sihanouk.

“My husband is a well educated man, who would never deal in betrayal, corruption or bribery,” Sar Socheat told the Post yesterday. “He never joined in any of the killing – what he has done is for the interest of the nation, for territorial integrity, the honour of the nation.”

Khieu Samphan’s wife was emotional at times while attending yesterday’s hearing with the couple’s youngest son, who is studying in Phnom Penh.

Suspects’ families mull trial

Senior Khmer Rouge cadres gather in this undated photo. Facing forward from the left: Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Vorn Vet. The initial hearing in the trial of KR leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith begins on Monday at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DOCUMENTATION CENTRE OF CAMBODIA)

Nuon Chea (right) and his wife, Ly Kimseng, visit Angkor Wat in this undated file photo. (Photo supplied)

So Socheat, Khieu Samphan's wife (Photo: AP)

Friday, 24 June 2011
Thet Sambath
The Phnom Penh Post

“I was with him at the time [that the Khmer Rouge were in power] – he had the right to welcome guests from overseas and offer them credentials, but had no power to decide anything ... I also want to know who killed Cambodians, but please don’t just make accusations against all people in the Khmer Rouge.” (sic!) - So Socheat, Khieu Samphan's wife

As the Khmer Rouge tribunal gears up for the initial hearing in its historic second case on Monday, the court appears to have made significant inroads with the Cambodian public.

A study released by the University of California-Berkeley School of Law’s Human Rights Centre earlier this month found that some 75 percent of respondents interviewed this past December reported being at least somewhat aware of the work of the court, compared with 61 percent in 2008.

A total of 81 percent said the court “will help promote national reconciliation”, a 14 percent increase from 2008.

"Facing genocide - Khieu Samphan and Pol Pot" at Norwegian and Montreal International Film Festivals (June-Sept. 2010)

Click here for a preview of the documentary

Source: http://www.story.se/films/-facing-genocide---khieu-samphan-and-pol-pot/?category=&page=

A film by David Aronowitsch and Staffan Lindberg

The film is a search into the personality of Khieu Samphan. He was the Head of state of one of the most brutal regimes ever, the Khmer Rouge-regime in the Democratic Kampuchea. We have followed him one and half year before his arrest in 2007. He is soon facing a trial and is charged with Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes. The film gives insight into his mindset, his life today and his close relation to Pol Pot. The film is a unique story about an ex-leader the time before his arrest and before he is put on trial. The film is completed January 2010.

Others appearing in the film:

• Theary Seng, lawyer and victim of the Khmer Rouge. She is Khieu Samphan’s antagonist in the film and also the voice of the victims.
• Jacques Vergès, Khieu Samphan’s defence-lawyer often called the Devil's advocate.
• So Socheat, Khieu Samphan’s wife, who has been with him since the beginning of the seventies.
• Nuon Chea, ideologist and Head of Security of the Khmer Rouge.

So Saroeun, aka Comrade Rin: Khieu Samphan’s revolutionary wife

So Saroeun, aka Comrade Rin, at her husband bail appeal on 03 April 2009 (Photo: Reuters)

So Saroeun, aka Comrade Rin, aka So Socheat, a fomer KR army entertainer and Khieu Samphan's wife (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Grandma Ream, Khieu Samphan's 100-year-old mother-in-law
Mrs. So Sary, So Saroeun's older sister

A KR revolutionary entertainer went on to become the wife of the DK President

Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Rasmei Kampuchea
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

So Saroeun’s life and fate led her to become the wife of Khieu Samphan, the former president of the Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge) regime. So Saroeun was born in Kak Paun village, Rohas commune, Rovieng disctrict, Preah Vihear province.

Sa Saroeun’s revolutionary name was Comrade Rin. Even if there is no clear indication as to when Khieu Samphan married his wife, or how many children they had together, everybody in Rovieng district, Preah Vihear province, know that So Sareoun, aka Comrade Rin, is Khieu Samphan’s wife and she has 4 children with him. So Saroeun’s mother is currently 100-year-old and she has 6 other siblings who are currently all living in Kak Paun village. Nevertheless, this hidden mystery makes it such that the public almost do not know who Khieu Samphan’s wife really is.

In August, a Rasmei Kampuchea reporter traveled with great difficulties to visit So Sareoun’s village, and he even interviewed her mother and her siblings as well.

Kak Paun village is located about 3 km southeast of Rovieng city. The village has several hundreds of homes, including some historical ones. The village has numerous tall fruit trees, an indication that it is an existing old village.

Grandma Ream, a 100-year-old senile woman, is sitting next to her two elderly daughters. She is So Saroeun’s mother and Khieu Samphan’s mother-in-law. Grandma Ream said haphazardly: “My daughter, Sareoun, and my son-in-law, Khieu Samphan, are very poor.” So Sary, a 63-year-old woman who is So Saroeun’s sister, said: “Saroeun, my younger sister left the village around 1970, she was an entertainer for the KR army. She disappeared since then.”

She added: “After 1975, we saw So Saroeun visiting home exactly twice. She came alone and she did not tell anybody that her husband was Khieu Samphan.” So Sary said that after 1979, So Saroeun completely disappeared, and it was not until the repatriation of KR soldiers that she learnt that her sister is Khieu Samphan’s wife. So Saroeun has 4 children: 2 sons and 2 daughters. So Sary said that Khieu Samphan came to visit his mother-in-law twice under the veil of secrecy. On his first visit, Khieu Samphan spent two nights, nevertheless, the Rovieng authority rejected this information, saying that he never knew about Khieu Samphan visiting his wife’s village.

Leng Keat, a former villager and Rovieng district elementary school classmate of So Sareoun, said that So Saroeun was his classmate but later on she quit school and joined the Khmer Rouge army. Since then on, he never heard about So Sareoun anymore until it was learnt that she became Mrs. Khieu Samphan.

There is no information about the exact biography of So Saroeun, aka Comrade Rin. Nevertheless, villagers indicated that she was a “true revolutionary” because she cared very little about her mother and her siblings, but her fortunate (???) fate led her to become the wife of the DK president.

Khieu Samphan's appeal against pre-trial detention

So Socheath, wife of a former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan, walks into the court room for a hearing at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, April 3, 2009. The U.N.-backed genocide tribunal on Friday opens a hearing of the pre-trial detention of Khieu Samphan who was charged of war crime and crime against humanity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, Pool)
Former Khmer Rouge President Khieu Samphan sits in the dock before Cambodia's genocide tribunal rules on an appeal against his third pre-trial detention, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh April 3, 2009. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
REUTERS/Heng Sinith/Pool
Khieu Samphan, a former Khmer Rouge head of state, looks on during a hearing at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, April 3, 2009. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crime and crime against humanity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, Pool)
Khieu Samphan, a former Khmer Rouge head of state, touches microphone as he sits in a dock during a hearing at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, April 3, 2009. The U.N.-backed genocide tribunal on Friday opens a hearing of the pre-trial detention of Khieu Samphan who was charged of war crime and crime against humanity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, Pool)
French lawyer, Jacques Verges, lawyer to Khieu Samphan, a former Khmer Rouge head of state, looks on during a hearing at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, April 3, 2009. The U.N.-backed genocide tribunal on Friday opens a hearing of the pre-trial detention of Khieu Samphan who was charged of war crime and crime against humanity. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, Pool)

Khieu Samphan’s wife asks the court to speed up its work

So Socheat (Foreground, left), Khieu Samphan's wife, is seen walking into the Calmette Hospital to visit her husband in November 2007 (Photo: AP)

16 March 2008
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

On Sunday, the wife of the former president of the KR regime requested that the ECCC or the KR Tribunal (KRT) speeds up the hearing in her husband’s case, and she also asked for thorough investigation before any sentencing is handed down to Khieu Samphan. She claimed that Khieu Samphan was a clean and gentle man, quite the opposite to the accusation made by the tribunal against him.

56-year-old So Socheat told RFA on Sunday: “Why did they incarcerate him for so long because others had their judgments or their hearings for the sentencing, why I don’t see anything (for him)? The court must investigate thoroughly in order to provide proper justice as to whether my husband’s involvement in ordering someone to kill others. It must be clear to his (Khieu Samphan) satisfaction, and to my satisfaction.”

In reaction to the demand and the call made by Khieu Samphan’s wife, Reach Sambath, KRT spokesman, explained: “The tribunal is speeding up its work. On the 20th (of March), we will issue the decision for Nuon Chea who asked for bail release. The following month (i.e. April), the other 3 people who asked for bail release also, they include Mr. Ieng Sary, Mrs. Ieng Thirith, and Mr. Khieu Samphan, (their cases) will follow afterward. At the tribunal, we are working with all our ability to fulfill our duty according to the law.”

On Sunday, there was no immediate comment given by Mr. Say Bory, the co-defense lawyers of Khieu Samphan regarding his defendant because someone else answered his phone and said that he was busy.

The 77-year-old Khieu Samphan was the former (2nd) president of the KR regime, and he was arrested at the Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh by the Cambodian authority based on a warrant issued by the KRT on 19 November 2007. He was officially charged by the KRT co-investigating judges of crime against humanity and war crimes.

The KRT has already issued its decision to continue the incarceration of Kaing Kech Iev, aka Duch, the former Tuol Sleng prison (or S-21) director. On 20 March, the KRT will issue its decision on the bail relaease appeal by Nuon Chea, the former president of the National Assembly of the KR regime.

A source indicated that the ECCC plans to hold successive hearings in the appeal made by the group of former KR leaders, such as Kheiu Samphan, Ieng Sary, and Ieng Thirith, Ieng Sary’s wife.

Khieu Samphan’s health improving

Saturday, November 17, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Mrs. So Socheat, wife of Khieu Samphan, indicated that her husband is now in good health after resting at the hospital for the past two to three days. Khieu Samphan is affected by high blood pressure, and the government immediately ordered his transport to Phnom Penh by helicopter for medical treatment on Wednesday, after it was learnt that he collapsed at home in Pailin city on Tuesday. So Socheat said that her husband’s health is returning to normal and there is nothing to worry about anymore.

No voluntary surrender for KRouge leader: wife

Khieu Samphan sits at his home in Pailin, northwest of Phnom Penh in July 2007. Khieu Samphan will not voluntarily surrender to Cambodia's UN-backed genocide court, his wife said Thursday amid speculation that the regime's former head of state would soon be arrested.(AFP)

Thursday November 15, 2007

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan will not voluntarily surrender to Cambodia's UN-backed genocide court, his wife said Thursday amid speculation that the regime's former head of state would soon be arrested.

"He will go to the tribunal when there is a summons, when there is a warrant," wife Sor Socheat told AFP, a day after two other members of the regime's inner circle were formally detained by the tribunal.

Former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, were officially taken into the court's custody late Wednesday after their first judicial hearing before tribunal judges.

The pair had been arrested at their Phnom Penh home on Monday and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, bringing to four the number of top cadre now facing the court.

Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea and prison chief Duch were arrested by the tribunal earlier this year.

No details were released of Wednesday's hearing, which was to determine whether enough evidence existed to continue detaining Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith.

Both have been implicated in atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule over Cambodia, but deny any role in the regime's crimes.

Ieng Thirith, however, remains a staunch defender of the Khmer Rouge's policies of self-reliance.

Khieu Samphan, the last of five senior regime leaders to remain outside of the tribunal's custody, continued Thursday to receive medical care at Phnom Penh's Calmette Hospital.

He was admitted Wednesday after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered him flown from his home in the former rebel stronghold Pailin, in northwest Cambodia, to the capital for treatment.

The prime minister said at the time that he feared the government could be blamed for the death of Khieu Samphan, who suffered a spike in blood pressure Tuesday night.

Sor Socheat said Thursday that her husband was "feeling normal. He did not have a stroke," but that it was unclear when he would be discharged.

Doctors on Wednesday ran a battery of tests, including a CAT Scan, but no results have been announced, Sor Socheat said.

"He is still in the hospital to receive more treatment," she said.

Khieu Samphan's illness, however, highlights fears that ageing Khmer Rouge cadre could die before they are tried for crimes committed by the communist guerrillas.

Up to two million people were executed, or died of starvation and overwork under the regime, which sought to forge an agrarian utopia.

Religion, schools and currency were abolished, while the country's population was driven onto vast collective farms as the Khmer Rouge's radical social experiment deteriorated into one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.

Khieu Samphan's wife plays down her husband's role during the KRouge period, even though he was their presdident

Wife plays down husband's role in Khmer Rouge years

20/07/2007
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

In Cambodia, the wife of a former Khmer Rouge leader has echoed her husband's recent denials of his involvement in crimes against humanity during the Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s.

Earlier this week, 76-year-old Khieu Samphan told journalists that he was a patriot, and not guilty.

Now in a rare interview, his wife has played down her husband's role during the Khmer Rouge years, describing it as insignificant.

So Socheat has told Radio Australia's Khmer Service that her husband never witnessed, nor had anything to do with any killings.

And she says there is not enough evidence for him to be tried by the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Her comments came as prosecutors filed their first cases against surviving leaders of the regime.

The names of the five involved have not been made public.

The Khmer Rouge regime ruled Cambodia from April 1975 until January 1979, when it was defeated by invading Vietnamese forces.

An estimated two million people died from execution, exhaustion and starvation during the rule of the radical Maoist regime.