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First hearing for Cambodia court | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
An international genocide tribunal set up to try surviving members of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime is holding its first public hearing. | |
The UN-backed court is hearing a plea for bail from Kang Kek Ieu, or Duch, the former head of a notorious prison. | |
Duch was the first of five senior Khmer Rouge officials to be arrested and charged by the court. | |
More than a million people are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule between 1975 and 1979. | More than a million people are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule between 1975 and 1979. |
Spokesman Peter Foster described the hearing as a "milestone" for the tribunal, which was set up last year after decades of wrangling. | |
"It's a big day," he said. "The spotlight will now be on Cambodia." | |
'Sense of relief' | 'Sense of relief' |
Duch, who is now in his 60s, was driven to the court from a nearby detention centre, where he has been held since his arrest in July. | |
WHO WERE THE KHMER ROUGE? Maoist regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979Founded and led by Pol Pot, (above) who died in 1998 Abolished religion, schools and currency in a bid to create agrarian utopiaBrutal regime that did not tolerate dissentMore than a million people thought to have died from starvation, overwork or execution Brutal Khmer Rouge regime | WHO WERE THE KHMER ROUGE? Maoist regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979Founded and led by Pol Pot, (above) who died in 1998 Abolished religion, schools and currency in a bid to create agrarian utopiaBrutal regime that did not tolerate dissentMore than a million people thought to have died from starvation, overwork or execution Brutal Khmer Rouge regime |
Three decades ago, he ran Tuol Sleng jail in Phnom Penh, where thousands of people were tortured and executed by the Khmer Rouge regime. | |
Lawyers for the elderly ex-leader are appealing for bail on the grounds that he was held without charge under the jurisdiction of another court for eight years. | |
The BBC's Guy De Launey, in Phnom Penh, says that Duch's appeal for bail is not in itself a particularly significant event as the former Khmer Rouge jailer is unlikely to be released. | |
But his appearance in court shows the tribunal is finally moving forward, our correspondent adds. | |
After decades of delays in setting up the special courts, the symbolic value is enormous, he says. | |
"This will be a first full-blown hearing for the people to be able to see that justice is being done," the co-prosecutor, Robert Petit, told the BBC. | "This will be a first full-blown hearing for the people to be able to see that justice is being done," the co-prosecutor, Robert Petit, told the BBC. |
"I hope that it will provide Cambodians with a certain sense of relief that the process is ongoing and is transparent, or as transparent as it can be." | "I hope that it will provide Cambodians with a certain sense of relief that the process is ongoing and is transparent, or as transparent as it can be." |
Five senior Khmer Rouge officials are now in the custody of the tribunal. | |
On Monday, former head of state Khieu Samphan was formally charged with committing crimes against humanity. | |
Pol Pot's second-in-command Nuon Chea and the former foreign and social affairs ministers Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith are also facing charges. | |
Their trials are expected to begin next year. |