PHNOM PENH — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that a second Khmer Rouge war crimes trial due to start early next year would be the last.
Hun Sen "clearly affirmed that case three is not allowed", Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters after Ban met with the premier.
"We have to think about peace in Cambodia," he said.
In its first trial the UN-backed court in July sentenced former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, to 30 years in jail for overseeing the deaths of 15,000 people in the late 1970s.
Last month the court indicted four top regime leaders for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in connection with the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and execution between 1975 and 1979.
The accused in the second trial are "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former foreign minister Ieng Sary, his wife and ex-social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, and former head of state Khieu Samphan.
The court is also investigating whether to open a third case against other former Khmer Rouge cadres, but has faced political interference.
Cambodian and international prosecutors have openly disagreed on whether the court should pursue more suspects.
Hor Namhong said Hun Sen told Ban during the meeting that the court would achieve a "successful prosecution" by the end of its second trial, but would suffer a "failure" if it prosecuted more cadres from the brutal regime.
Hun Sen was once a mid-level Khmer Rouge member himself before turning against the movement.
He has repeatedly warned that further prosecutions at the court could destabilise Cambodia, saying that he would prefer to see the court fail than indict more suspects.
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