Convicted K.Rouge jailer hires new lawyer

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, sacked his French lawyer Francois Roux in early July for "lack of confidence"

via Khmer NZ

PHNOM PENH — Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch has hired a Cambodian lawyer to replace his international attorney, the tribunal said Friday, as he prepares to appeal his conviction for crimes against humanity.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, sacked his French lawyer Francois Roux in early July for "lack of confidence" but retained his Cambodian defence lawyer Kar Savuth at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal.

Duch has chosen a second local attorney, Kang Ritheary, to represent him because "we cannot find international lawyers that met his criteria," said Lars Olsen, a spokesman for the court.

Kar Savuth told local media last month that his client wanted a Chinese lawyer with knowledge of communism to represent him at the tribunal, where there had been discord between his international and local lawyers.

Duch was jailed for 30 years last month for war crimes and crimes against humanity over his role in overseeing the mass murder of 15,000 men, women and children at the Tuol Sleng prison.

Duch, 67, was the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal.

He was initially handed 35 years but the court reduced the jail sentence on the grounds that he had been detained illegally for years before the UN-backed tribunal was established. Kar Savuth has said he plans to appeal.

Many survivors and relatives of victims were dismayed by the sentence, which also took into account the years Duch has served since his arrest in 1999, meaning that he could walk free in about 19 years.