Africa

Home page

Africa

Former Khmer Rouge Leaders Ask Court to Release Them

31 January 2011 23:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. In Cambodia, defense lawyers for three former Khmer Rouge leaders - set to stand trial later this year - called on the international war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh to release them, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

Monday marked the first time that the three former Khmer Rouge leaders have appeared together at the international war crimes tribunal.

Their lawyers asked the court to release them ahead of their trial, which is expected to start later this year.

They told the court their elderly clients had been in pre-trial detention for longer than the tribunalâ€™s rules permitted.

The three accused in court were Nuon Chea, the movementâ€™s chief ideologue who was known as Brother Number Two; Khieu Samphan, who was the movementâ€™s head of state; and Ieng Thirith, the former social affairs minister.

The fourth defendant, ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary, did not appeal the tribunalâ€™s recent ruling that all four must remain in custody ahead of their trial.

International prosecutor Andrew Cayley said Monday that Nuon Cheaâ€™s request for release ran counter to international jurisprudence.

He said among other things, Nuon Chea should remain in custody because he had shown himself capable of intimidating those below him in the Khmer Rouge hierarchy.

At least one of those people is scheduled to testify against Nuon Chea, and Cayley said other witnesses were also fearful of testifying. "Your honors, given the accusedâ€™s position within Democratic Kampuchea, he could put pressure on witnesses. Especially those under his authority, and indeed there has been some evidence of that already," Cayley stated.

Prosecutors also warned that the defendants had access to the names of witnesses.

The court is expected to rule on the request for release within 30 days.

Earlier this month the four were charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes under Cambodian law. They deny the charges.

As many as 2.2 million people died under the Khmer Rouge movementâ€™s rule of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.

The movementâ€™s leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.

Last year the tribunal sentenced the movementâ€™s former security chief, Comrade Duch, to 30 years. Both the prosecution and Duchâ€™s lawyers have appealed the verdict, which will be heard in late March.