Thursday, 17 January 2008

Khmer Rouge trial officials end visit to former stronghold

Posted : Wed, 16 Jan 2008
Author : DPA

Phnom Penh - Court officials from Cambodia's special chambers to try a handful of former leaders ended a visit to the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin Wednesday, confident the visit was successful. The visit was aimed at explaining the court to former Khmer Rouge rank and file and allaying fears that it was a witch hunt which may spread to the lower levels of the now-defunct movement.

The prosecutors visited a pagoda and "met with the people," according to media spokesman Reach Sambath, attempting to spread the message to the predominantly former Khmer Rouge community that the court was open to them to approach and was intent on finding justice.

However, many of the region's former Khmer Rouge officials boycotted the two-day visit, with some even fleeing their former sanctuary on the north-western border with Thailand to travel nearly 500 kilometres to the capital to avoid the media frenzy which accompanied it.

The 56-million-dollar joint UN-Cambodia court has so far arrested five former leaders and charged them with crimes against humanity as well as war crimes in some cases.

Four of them were officially residents of Pailin until their arrest and remain popular in the community there after they helped broker a deal to defect to the government in 1996, ending the war but allowing former Khmer Rouge autonomy, and spent lavishly on items such as local Buddhist pagodas.

Up to 2 million Cambodians died under the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime.

No comments: