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Khmer Rouge 'First Lady' spared genocide trial
Agence France Presse - November 19, 2011
The announcement – just days before the tribunal was to hear opening statements in her trial with three co-accused – comes after experts diagnosed former social affairs minister and "First Lady" Ieng Thirith with dementia.
The trial chamber "orders the release of the accused Ieng Thirith", the judges said in a ruling on Thursday, after finding her "unfit to stand trial".
Prosecutors have 24 hours to appeal the decision. "Unless there is an appeal, she will be released as soon as possible," a court spokesman said.
Court-appointed experts told the tribunal last month that Ieng Thirith, 79, suffers from memory loss and most likely has Alzheimer's disease. They noted that she had trouble remembering her past and once even failed to recall the name of her husband and co-accused Ieng Sary, the regime's former foreign affairs minister.
"Trial and continued detention of an accused who lacks capacity to understand proceedings against her or to meaningfully participate in her own defence would not serve the interests of justice," judges said.
Ieng Thirith and three fellow senior regime members have been charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity over the deaths of up to 2 million people during the communist movement's 1975-79 reign of terror.
All four – including "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan – have been detained near the court since 2007.
Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population through starvation, overwork and execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia. For her role as social affairs minister, Ieng Thirith, who also was Pol Pot's sister-in-law, is held responsible by some researchers for the regime's drastic reordering of society.
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