Duch told the court he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge
Two million people were executed or died of starvation under the Khmer Rouge
(Posted by CAAI News Media)
PHNOM PENH — Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch stunned Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court Friday by asking judges to acquit and release him on the final day of arguments in his trial.
Prosecutors and victims said the demand raised questions about Duch's previous admissions of responsibility and his pleas for forgiveness for overseeing the murders of 15,000 people at a notorious torture centre.
"I would ask the chambers to release me. Thank you very much," Duch said at the end of his closing statement to the court, officially known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
Following a query by shocked judges, Duch's Cambodian lawyer Kar Savuth confirmed that Duch was asking to be acquitted on the grounds that he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge hierarchy.
International prosecutors earlier this week asked judges to impose a jail sentence of 40 years on Duch -- a former maths teacher whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav -- for his role in the brutal 1975-1979 communist regime.
Under their leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly two million people as they abolished money, property and set up huge labour camps in their bid to turn Cambodia back to a rural "Year Zero".
Duch's jail, known as Tuol Sleng or S-21, was at the heart of the Khmer Rouge security apparatus. Inmates were taken from there during Duch's tenure for execution at a nearby orchard now known as the "Killing Fields".
During the nine-month trial, Duch's defence team focussed on getting a lighter sentence, by downplaying his position within the regime and by highlighting his remorse, his time already served and his cooperation.
But in the past week there have been signs of disharmony between Duch's Cambodian lawyers and his international counsel over their strategy.
Kar Savuth said Wednesday for the first time that Duch should be acquitted, appearing to cause a rift in the defence team. Co-defence lawyer Francois Roux then expressly stated early Friday the defence was not seeking an acquittal.
The court's three Cambodian judges and two foreign judges officially wrapped up the proceedings later Friday without making a ruling on Duch's request. They are expected to hand down a verdict by March.
Prosecutors said they were "surprised" by Duch's last-minute demand.
"The fact that he (Duch) entered a request for an acquittal reinforces in our mind that the remorse is limited," international prosecutor Bill Smith told a hastily arranged press conference at the court.
"We the co-prosecutors have been taken by surprise. It's still in my mind unclear whether there was agreement or disagreement between the national and international counsel," Smith said.
The court, set up in 2006 as a final chance to find justice for victims of the blood-soaked regime, has already been mired in controversy over alleged political interference and allegations about kickbacks in return for jobs.
Vann Nath, an artist who survived Tuol Sleng after he was put to work painting pictures of Pol Pot, said Duch's request "insults the dead".
"He must not be released because he committed huge crimes. We totally depend on the court for justice," he said.
Chum Mey, who survived because of his skills as a mechanic, added: "The court must not release Duch. Duch is known worldwide as a guilty person who killed thousands of people."
Pol Pot died in 1998. The joint trial of four other more senior Khmer Rouge leaders is expected to start in 2011, while the court is considering whether to open cases against five other former Khmer Rouge cadres.
"Because of the behaviour of the defence it was a good day for the prosecution but an unfortunate day for justice and a very disappointing day for the victims," said Eric Holder, a human rights professor from the University of California at Berkeley, who is attending the trial.
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