Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal is set to resume with the ongoing trial of former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - who is expected to admit his role in the "Killing Fields" horrors three decades ago.(AFP/Pool/File/Adrees Latif)PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal resumes its first trial of a Khmer Rouge leader Monday, bringing the regime's chief torturer to justice for the "Killing Fields" atrocities 30 years ago.
Former maths teacher Kaing Guek Eav -- better known as Duch -- will be read charges that he ran the main prison for the hardline communist regime which killed up to two million people, and is expected to apologise later this week.
"It's certain that he will use the opportunity given to him to speak to the judges, to the victims and, beyond that, with the Cambodian population," Duch's French lawyer Francois Roux told AFP.
For Cambodians, the controversial tribunal, established in 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the United Nations, is the last chance to find justice for the Khmer Rouge's crimes.
The 66-year-old Duch was indicted last year for allegedly personally overseeing the torture and extermination of more than 15,000 men, women and children when he headed the prison, built in a former high school.
He is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder and faces a maximum term of life in prison by the tribunal, which does not have the power to impose the death penalty.
This week he will be formally read his indictments. Lawyers will make opening statements and Duch will be allowed to comment on his charges.
The trial is expected to last several months.
Hundreds of people who lost loved ones at Tuol Sleng are set to attend the hearing at the specially built courtroom on the outskirts of Phnom Penh for the hearing on Monday, which is set to start at 10:00 am (0300 GMT).
Duch will sit with the court's judges, lawyers and witnesses behind a massive bulletproof screen to prevent possible revenge attacks.
His first hearing took place in February, and consisted of three days of procedural matters concerning admissibility of witnesses and evidence.
Tuol Sleng was at the heart of the Khmer Rouge security apparatus and thousands of inmates were taken from there during Duch's tenure for execution at nearby Choeung Ek, an orchard now known as the "Killing Fields."
Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for one of the worst horrors of the 20th century, wiping out nearly a quarter of the population through starvation, overwork and execution.
Rising to power as a tragic spin-off from the US conflict in Vietnam, the movement emptied Cambodia's cities to take society back to a rural "Year Zero," purging city dwellers, intellectuals and even people who wore glasses.
The Khmer Rouge was ousted by Vietnamese-backed forces after a reign of terror lasting three years, eight months and 20 days, but continued to fight a civil war until 1998. Pol Pot died in the same year.
Duch has been detained since 1999, when he was found working as a Christian aid worker in the jungle, and was formally arrested by the tribunal in July 2007.
He has previously said that he regrets his crimes.
The tribunal has faced controversy over allegations of political interference by the government and claims that Cambodian staff paid kickbacks for their jobs.
The joint trial of four other Khmer Rouge leaders is set to start later this year after Duch's trial is completed, although no date has yet been set.
Judges are mulling opening cases against other former Khmer Rouge leaders after a dispute between the international and Cambodian co-prosecutors over whether to pursue more suspects.
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