PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s war crimes court will this week edge closer to delivering justice to Khmer Rouge victims as it begins hearing final statements in the much-delayed trial of former regime leaders.
Nearly four decades after the country’s “Killing Fields” era, the UN-backed court will on Wednesday enter the last phase of the trial of “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, 87, and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan, 82.
The trial is seen as a milestone in the still-traumatised nation’s quest for justice, particularly given the ages of the frail suspects.
Another defendant, former foreign minister Ieng Sary died aged 87 in March this year, while the case against his wife Ieng Thirith, also an ex-minister, was suspended after the court ruled dementia left her unfit to stand trial.
Led by “Brother Number One” Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the communist Khmer Rouge were responsible for one of the worst horrors of the 20th century, wiping out up to two million people through starvation, overwork and execution in the late 1970s.
“Victims have been waiting for more than 38 years to see some kind of justice.... this waiting period will soon end,” court spokesman Lars Olsen said.
Hundreds of Cambodians are expected to attend the hearing of the closing statements, although interest in the trial has been muted among the wider public. “The victims deserve to have a sense of closure,” said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which researches the regime’s atrocities. “While we move on, we should not forget the past. Genocide is part of our identity. It is us.” The final statements, including by the defendants, should be heard by the end of the month, while the court expects a verdict in the first half of 2014. AFP
