International Law
Khmer Rouge Official Seeks Bail
Spectators laughed today when the lawyer for the first Khmer Rouge defendant to face charges for Cambodia’s killing fields said his client’s eight-year detention violated human rights.
The defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, was seeking bail, the New York Times reports. He is accused of crimes against humanity for his actions as the Khmer Rouge’s chief inquisitor. He ran the Toul Sleng S-21 prison where 14,000 inmates died and only a few survived.
The presiding judge read the indictment to the court, which accused Duch of mass murder, arbitrary detention and torture. The special tribunal was created with help from the United Nations.
