KNBC (NBC4 Los Angeles)April 16, 2008
LOS ANGELES -- A Long Beach accountant was convicted Wednesday of federal charges stemming from the failed coup attempt he led against Cambodia's government in November 2000.
Yasith Chhun, the 52-year-old president of the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, faces life in prison without parole when sentenced on Sept. 8, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Chhun was found guilty of the four charges against him -- conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy to damage or destroy property in a foreign country, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States, and engaging in a military expedition against a nation with which the United States is at peace.
The conviction followed a two-week trial in downtown Los Angeles, in which jurors were told that Chhun planned "Operation Volcano" to overthrow the government of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The failed attempt resulted in the deaths of at least three CFF members, according to the U.S. government. An unknown number of civilians, members of the Cambodian National Police and Cambodian military were injured.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lamar Baker told jurors that Chhun hatched a "Made in the USA" plot to overthrow Cambodia's government and knowingly put other people's lives -- but not his own -- in danger.
But Chhun's attorney, Richard Callahan, argued that his client's "only goal was to bring democracy to his homeland."
Neither Baker nor Callahan were immediately available for comment on the verdict.
During the trial, prosecutors portrayed Chhun as a callous, cowardly, incompetent leader of the CFF, who held group meetings at his Long Beach business, CCC Professional Accounting Services, located in the 2700 block of East 10th Street.
Chhun also met with former members of the Khmer Rouge military at the Cambodia-Thailand border in October 1998 to plan Sen's overthrow, prosecutors said.
The Khmer Rouge and its leader, Pol Pot, ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The Communist organization was blamed for the deaths of more than 1 million people through execution, forced labor and starvation in what became known as the country's "killing fields."
After raising money in the United States -- including staging a May 2000 fundraiser at the Queen Mary -- the CFF launched "popcorns," or small-scale guerrilla attacks in Cambodia against gas stations, coffee shops and other targets, according to the U.S. government.
Chhun sent a congratulatory fax to one CFF member whose bombing of a nightclub resulted in two deaths and scores of injuries, prosecutors said.
Ignoring the advice of senior CFF officials who warned about the group's lack of money and popular support, Chhun launched "Operation Volcano," a major assault on Cambodian government buildings and the Sen administration, according to the prosecution.
On Nov. 24, 2000, Chhun -- safely stashed away in Thailand at the time -- orchestrated attacks on buildings housing Cambodia's Ministry of Defense, the Council of Ministers and a military headquarters facility, prosecutors said.
Jurors were shown photographs of those who were injured during the assault. The victims suffered gunshot wounds from AK-47 assault rifles and shrapnel injuries from exploded hand grenades, according to the prosecution. Some of them testified at Chhun's trial.
Jurors also were shown videotaped testimony from Chhun's co-conspirators -- three of whom are serving life sentences in Cambodian prisons.
After the coup failed, Chhun returned to the United States. The FBI arrested him at his Long Beach home on June 1, 2005, after a federal grand jury indicted him.
Chhun also gave incriminating statements to an FBI agent, who recorded them, prosecutors said.
But Callahan portrayed Chhun and his followers as naive freedom fighters who made "a noble effort to save Cambodia" from the "tyrannical" government of Hun Sen -- a former brigade commander under Pol Pot.
Chhun is a man "desperately concerned about the people of Cambodia and their future," Callahan told jurors earlier this month. "You need to see what he saw and feel what he felt."
He said the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution in support of having the United States support Sen's indictment in an international court of law. That resolution was passed in October 1998 -- the same month Chhun traveled to Southeast Asia to plot against Cambodia's government, Callahan said.
He also noted Cambodia's problems, which he said include corruption, poverty, civil rights abuses and child sexual slavery.
Chhun stayed behind in Thailand during Operation Volcano after a top CFF military commander told him it would a security risk for him to be in Cambodia during the assault, Callahan said.
Chhun, along with his wife, Sras Pech, 42, still face separate federal charges alleging they ran a fraudulent tax-preparation business in Long Beach. Trial in that case is scheduled to begin on July 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment