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Cambodia's Khmer Rouge trial to start
Agence France Presse - February 16, 2009
Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court is preparing for a deluge of around 1,000 people expected to attend its long-awaited first trial of a Khmer Rouge leader, a spokeswoman says.
The ultra-communist regime's prison chief Kaing Guek Eav – better known as Duch – will appear on Tuesday for the initial hearing in his trial for crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder.
"The court is an absolute hive of activity," tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said on Monday. "It reaffirms to us the intense public interest in what's happening. We're well aware this is a historic day for Cambodia," she added.
Former maths teacher Duch, 66, is one of five Khmer Rouge leaders who have been detained by the court seeking justice for the communist 1975-1979 regime that killed up to two million people.
His first hearing is expected to last less than three days as it involves procedural matters to determine the structure of the trial, according to court officials. Full testimony is not expected until March.
Duch was indicted last year for allegedly personally overseeing the torture and extermination of more than 12,000 men, women and children when he headed Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21.
Established in 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the United Nations, the long-stalled war crimes tribunal is the last chance for Cambodians to find justice for the Khmer Rouge's crimes.
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