Khmer Rouge Pretrial Ends After Clash Over Evidence

VOA ^ | 18 February 2009

[nickcarraway]

Prosecutors and defense attorneys have clashed in Cambodia over evidence at a pretrial hearing for the man who once ran a notorious Khmer Rouge prison.

Defense lawyers for Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, argued Wednesday against using a film documenting torture as evidence before a genocide tribunal.

Prosecutors insisted on introducing the film shot by Vietnamese soldiers shortly after they drove the Khmer Rouge from power in 1979.

The pre-trial hearing has ended with an official trial date yet to be announced.

The United States on Wednesday expressed strong support for bringing to justice senior leaders responsible for the atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge regime.

U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Gordon Duguid, in a statement, urged the court to conduct a fair and transparent judicial process and address allegations of corruption.

Many Cambodians have criticized the 30-year wait for the trial. Tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said many potential witnesses have died.

Duch is the the first of five ex-Khmer Rouge leaders to be tried under the joint United Nations-Cambodian genocide tribunal.

He is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and murder for his role in some 15,000 deaths that took place at the S-21 detention center in Phnom Penh between 1975 and 1979.

Duch has admitted to committing atrocities and expressed remorse for his actions.

At least 1.7 million Cambodians died during the four-year reign of the communist Khmer Rouge regime.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Duch has become a committed Christian in the intervening years. He has assurance that when they put him to death for his brutal and unexusable actions that he will have paid the price for his sins on earth and that Jesus has taken his place to pay the price for his sins in eternity.