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Closing Arguments End In War Crimes Trial Of Former Khmer Rouge Commander 74 days ago
(RTTNews) - The final arguments in the war crimes trial of a former Khmer Rouge commander accused of torturing and killing thousands of Cambodians ended on Friday, with the accused making a surprise last minute plea for his release.
Kaing Khev Iev, also known as Duch, was the head of the Khmer Rouge's most notorious torture center and is accused of committing crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder of more than 15,000 people during the communist regime's rule from 1975 to 1979. He has co-operated with the tribunal ever since his arrest in 1999.
"I would ask the chamber to release me. Thank you very much," Duch said at the end of his closing statement to the court on Friday. His lawyers confirmed later that Duch was asking for acquittal on the grounds that he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge hierarchy.
The judges at the UN tribunal, however, ignored his plea for acquittal and closed proceedings. With the completion of the closing arguments in the case, the judges are now expected to make a verdict early next year. The closing arguments gave the defense and prosecution a final chance to make their case before the judges retire to consider their verdict.
Duch had earlier confessed to his roles in the torture and killings of thousands of people, but maintains that he was merely following the regime's orders when he oversaw the torture and death of thousands of Cambodians at the infamous Tuol Sleng prison. He also said earlier that he was full of "regretfulness and heartfelt sorrow" for his past actions.
However, Duch's plea for acquittal in his final statement before the court on Friday cast doubts about the sincerity in his earlier requests for forgiveness from the families of the victims killed under his charge. He faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted of the charges, as the UN-backed tribunal does not have the authority to impose the death penalty.
Duch is the first Khmer Rouge leader to face the tribunal and four more of the regime's senior officers are in custody awaiting trial. He is also the first Khmer Rouge leader to have confessed his role in the atrocities committed during the regimes four-year rule and expressed remorse.
Duch was arrested in 1999 after British journalist Nic Dunlop discovered him in the Cambodian countryside. Duch was a member of the Cambodia's infamous Khmer Rouge regime that took over the country in 1975 after ousting a US-backed government shortly after the U.S. pullout from neighboring Vietnam.
It is believed that the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot had executed over two million Cambodians in its efforts to forcefully create a peasant society based on Maoist principles before the invading Vietnamese army ousted it in 1979.
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