Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, center, stands in the dock as judges come into the courtroom for a hearing Monday, June 30, 2008, at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ieng Sary appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Monday to press for his release from pretrial detention. (AP Photo/Nguyen Tan Kiet, POOL)By KER MUNTHIT
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's genocide tribunal heard an emotional plea Thursday from the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister, who asked to be moved from pretrial confinement in its jail because of ill health.
Hearings on Ieng Sary's appeal for release from pretrial detention began Monday and ended after his plea without the judges giving a date for their ruling.
Defense lawyers presented several arguments for their appeal, including a controversial royal pardon their client had previously received when he led a surrender of large numbers of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who had been battling the government.
Ieng Sary is one of five former senior Khmer Rouge officials being held by the U.N.-assisted tribunal, which is attempting to establish accountability for an estimated 1.7 million deaths under the communist group's rule from 1975 to 1979.
The court has charged 82-year-old Ieng Sary with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The former foreign minister, who was allowed to address the court while seated in an apparent recognition of his infirmities, referred to his heart ailments.
"The detention facility does its best to give me care but the main problem is the lack of people to look after me," he said.
His voice cracking, he said sometimes no one responded when he pressed a button in his cell used to summon assistance.
"The problem is there is a lack of caring attention," he said.
His American lawyer, Michael Karnavas, said they were not seeking Ieng Sary's liberty, but rather his transfer from the tribunal's jail to preventative detention at Ieng Sary's home or a hospital, where more people could look after his health.
His lawyers argued Wednesday that a 12-year-old royal pardon exempts him from being tried, but the prosecution said the pardon was improper and should be scrapped.
He was condemned to death by a tribunal under a communist government installed by Vietnamese troops after they toppled the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. That tribunal, which was covered by the pardon, was a show trial with no real effort to present a defense.
Helen Jarvis, a spokeswoman for the tribunal, said it might take several weeks before the five judges of the tribunal's pretrial chamber rule on the appeal because of the complexity of the case.
Observers said the pardon presents a tough dilemma for the judges.
If the judges validate the pardon, Ieng Sary could walk free and that would turn the tribunal, which took several years to negotiate and establish, into a meaningless effort, said Lao Mong Hay, a senior researcher with the Hong Kong-based Human Rights Commission.
"Then what will be the meaning of the trial?" he said in a telephone interview.
Former King Norodom Sihanouk pardoned Ieng Sary in 1996 as a reward for leading some Khmer Rouge to surrender and join the government, a move that foreshadowed the Khmer Rouge's collapse in 1999, bringing an end to the civil war.
Prosecutor Yet Chakriya asked the court to nullify the pardon since under Cambodian law convicts must serve two-thirds of their sentences before pardons can be granted.
But Ieng Sary "has never served his sentence, not even a single day," said Yet Chakriya, urging the court "to stop the culture of impunity enjoyed by the leaders of the country who had committed serious crimes" against their own people.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's genocide tribunal heard an emotional plea Thursday from the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister, who asked to be moved from pretrial confinement in its jail because of ill health.
Hearings on Ieng Sary's appeal for release from pretrial detention began Monday and ended after his plea without the judges giving a date for their ruling.
Defense lawyers presented several arguments for their appeal, including a controversial royal pardon their client had previously received when he led a surrender of large numbers of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who had been battling the government.
Ieng Sary is one of five former senior Khmer Rouge officials being held by the U.N.-assisted tribunal, which is attempting to establish accountability for an estimated 1.7 million deaths under the communist group's rule from 1975 to 1979.
The court has charged 82-year-old Ieng Sary with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The former foreign minister, who was allowed to address the court while seated in an apparent recognition of his infirmities, referred to his heart ailments.
"The detention facility does its best to give me care but the main problem is the lack of people to look after me," he said.
His voice cracking, he said sometimes no one responded when he pressed a button in his cell used to summon assistance.
"The problem is there is a lack of caring attention," he said.
His American lawyer, Michael Karnavas, said they were not seeking Ieng Sary's liberty, but rather his transfer from the tribunal's jail to preventative detention at Ieng Sary's home or a hospital, where more people could look after his health.
His lawyers argued Wednesday that a 12-year-old royal pardon exempts him from being tried, but the prosecution said the pardon was improper and should be scrapped.
He was condemned to death by a tribunal under a communist government installed by Vietnamese troops after they toppled the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. That tribunal, which was covered by the pardon, was a show trial with no real effort to present a defense.
Helen Jarvis, a spokeswoman for the tribunal, said it might take several weeks before the five judges of the tribunal's pretrial chamber rule on the appeal because of the complexity of the case.
Observers said the pardon presents a tough dilemma for the judges.
If the judges validate the pardon, Ieng Sary could walk free and that would turn the tribunal, which took several years to negotiate and establish, into a meaningless effort, said Lao Mong Hay, a senior researcher with the Hong Kong-based Human Rights Commission.
"Then what will be the meaning of the trial?" he said in a telephone interview.
Former King Norodom Sihanouk pardoned Ieng Sary in 1996 as a reward for leading some Khmer Rouge to surrender and join the government, a move that foreshadowed the Khmer Rouge's collapse in 1999, bringing an end to the civil war.
Prosecutor Yet Chakriya asked the court to nullify the pardon since under Cambodian law convicts must serve two-thirds of their sentences before pardons can be granted.
But Ieng Sary "has never served his sentence, not even a single day," said Yet Chakriya, urging the court "to stop the culture of impunity enjoyed by the leaders of the country who had committed serious crimes" against their own people.
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