Morning Star
4-6-09
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP)--The Khmer Rouge's prisons chief Monday told Cambodia's U.N.-backed war crimes court that he had "sacrificed everything" for the revolution that ultimately killed up to two million people.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, last week apologized at his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, saying he accepted blame for the extermination of thousands of people at the movement's notorious main prison, Tuol Sleng.
Monday the grey-haired 66-year-old told how he left his job as a maths teacher to join the communist movement which became the Khmer Rouge.
"I believed my decision was proper at the time. I sacrificed everything for the revolution, sincerely and absolutely," Duch said.
"I will write a document about the crimes I did to my people at the time and recall the names involved. Where there was cruel activity by myself, I will reveal it," he added.
Hearings are scheduled this week to focus on M-13 prison, a secret center which Duch ran from 1971 to 1975 during the Khmer Rouge insurgency against the then U.S.-backed government.
The Khmer Rouge were later in power from 1975 to 1979, the period when Duch is accused of supervising Tuol Sleng prison, where 15,000 people were tortured before being sent to their deaths.
Judge Nil Nonn said it was necessary to hear about M-13 to understand Tuol Sleng's organizing structure, the personality of Duch and the relevance of his role to the Khmer Rouge leadership.
Duch has denied assertions by prosecutors that he played a central role in the Khmer Rouge regime's iron-fisted rule.
He faces life in jail at the court, which doesn't have the power to impose the death penalty.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died under house arrest in 1998, and many people in Cambodia believe the U.N.-sponsored tribunal is the last chance to bring those regime figures still alive to justice.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the U.N. and Cambodian government, although it has faced controversy over allegations of corruption and political interference.
The court is scheduled to try four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders after Duch's trial.
4-6-09
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP)--The Khmer Rouge's prisons chief Monday told Cambodia's U.N.-backed war crimes court that he had "sacrificed everything" for the revolution that ultimately killed up to two million people.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, last week apologized at his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, saying he accepted blame for the extermination of thousands of people at the movement's notorious main prison, Tuol Sleng.
Monday the grey-haired 66-year-old told how he left his job as a maths teacher to join the communist movement which became the Khmer Rouge.
"I believed my decision was proper at the time. I sacrificed everything for the revolution, sincerely and absolutely," Duch said.
"I will write a document about the crimes I did to my people at the time and recall the names involved. Where there was cruel activity by myself, I will reveal it," he added.
Hearings are scheduled this week to focus on M-13 prison, a secret center which Duch ran from 1971 to 1975 during the Khmer Rouge insurgency against the then U.S.-backed government.
The Khmer Rouge were later in power from 1975 to 1979, the period when Duch is accused of supervising Tuol Sleng prison, where 15,000 people were tortured before being sent to their deaths.
Judge Nil Nonn said it was necessary to hear about M-13 to understand Tuol Sleng's organizing structure, the personality of Duch and the relevance of his role to the Khmer Rouge leadership.
Duch has denied assertions by prosecutors that he played a central role in the Khmer Rouge regime's iron-fisted rule.
He faces life in jail at the court, which doesn't have the power to impose the death penalty.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died under house arrest in 1998, and many people in Cambodia believe the U.N.-sponsored tribunal is the last chance to bring those regime figures still alive to justice.
The tribunal was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the U.N. and Cambodian government, although it has faced controversy over allegations of corruption and political interference.
The court is scheduled to try four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders after Duch's trial.
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