Khmer Rouge chief jailer gets life in prison

[Mister D]

When people talk about crimes against humanity, torture etc. this is the sort of thing I think of. Not water boarding.

Snip

"The crimes of Kaing Guek Eav were of a particularly shocking and heinous character based on the number of people who were proven to have been killed," the judge said. The tribunal says Duch oversaw the deaths of at least 12,272 victims but estimates have placed the number as high as 16,000.
The court said the high number of deaths and the extended period of time over which they occurred — from 1975 to 1979 — "undoubtedly place this case among the gravest before international criminal tribunals."
Duch, 69, stood calmly without emotion as the sentence was read. He then pressed his palms together and drew them to his chest in a show of respect to the judge, before being led away by court guards. The ruling is final with no other chance for appeal.
Andrew Cayley, the British co-prosecutor, said Duch can request a pardon after serving 20 years, or about seven years from now.
Duch trained, ordered and supervised his staff to conduct "systematic torture and execution of prisoners" and showed "dedication to refining the operations of S-21, which was the factory of death," the court said in a separate statement.

http://news.yahoo.com/khmer-rouge-chief-jailer-gets-life-prison-044307104.html

[jgreer]

He then pressed his palms together and drew them to his chest in a show of respect to the judge

Huh?

And he can get out in seven years - after all those murders?

[Mister D]

Only if he is pardoned which I seriously doubt will happen.

[jgreer]

Thanx still find it weird those crimes should land him life without parole

[Mister D]

Thanx still find it weird those crimes should land him life without parole

I don't think the death penalty was an option in this case.

[waltky]

Atrocities comin' out at trial...
:shocked:
Khmer Rouge abuses recalled at trial
Oct. 23,`12 (UPI) -- A former Lon Nol soldier has told a court in Cambodia he was forced to collect human waste and spread it on fields with his own hands.


Chum Sokha, who was 20 at the time Phnom Penh fell in 1975, testified Monday in the trial of top Khmer Rouge officials, the Phnom Penh Post reported.

Sokha, one of the parties in a civil suit against the leaders, said he did the work for six months in a rural cooperative. He had buried his uniform when the Khmer Rouge came to power, but Sokha said his father was taken away when his military connections became known and he was never seen again.

Sokha became emotional on the stand, prompting objections from attorney Andrew Ianuzzi, who is representing Nuon Chea, the party's chief ideologist.

Ianuzzi said Sokha's grief was outside the scope of the trial, and the judge asked witnesses to keep descriptions as limited as possible.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/10/23/Khmer-Rouge-abuses-recalled-at-trial/UPI-58761351011073/#ixzz2AB2DuVm5

[patrickt]

Me? I keep remembering the poor terrorist who had a woman's breasts rubbed against him and the interrogators made rude comments about his mother.

I have a great deal of respect for the Cambodians who are alive simply for surviving. Pol Pot and his reign was horrible but it is the dream of the progressives.

[waltky]

Cambodian court rules 2 Khmer Rouge leaders must serve out life terms...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif
Cambodian court upholds life terms for 2 Khmer Rouge leaders
November 22, 2016 — A top Cambodian court on Wednesday upheld the life sentences for the two most senior surviving members of the Khmer Rouge regime, which is responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million people, saying that the massive scale of the crimes showed the two men's complete lack of consideration for the lives of the Cambodians.


The Supreme Court Chamber said the 2014 verdict by a U.N.-assisted Khmer Rouge tribunal was "appropriate" given the gravity of the crimes and roles of the two defendants — Khieu Samphan, the 85-year-old Khmer Rouge head of state, and Nuon Chea, the 90-year-old right-hand man to the communist group's late leader Pol Pot. The two men, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, sat impassively as the lengthy verdict was read out. They were detained in 2007 and started serving their sentences in 2014.


https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/S6SMCYJxIrKSrlPMvnMUVw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MTI4MDtoPTk2MDtpbD 1wbGFuZQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/85dccb81500046cfa369d218edcb60a6.jpg
Former Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu Samphan, left, and Nuon Chea sit together during funeral services for Khieu Ponnary, the first wife of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin, northwestern Cambodia. A top Cambodian court has upheld the life sentences of the two most senior surviving members of the Khmer Rouge regime, which was responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million people. The Supreme Court Chamber said the 2014 verdict by a U.N.-assisted Khmer Rouge tribunal was "appropriate" given the gravity of the crimes and roles of the two defendants — Khieu Samphan, the 85-year-old Khmer Rouge head of state, and Nuon Chea, the 90-year-old right-hand man to the communist group's late leader Pol Pot. The verdict was read out Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016.

Some 1.7 million people are estimated to have died from starvation, disease and execution due to the extremist policies of the communist Khmer Rouge when they held power from 1975 to 1979. "The gravity of the crimes should be reflected in the sentence ... the crimes were not isolated events but occurred over an extended period of time," said Kong Srim, president of the Supreme Court Chamber. Given the "significant role of the accused, the Supreme Court Chamber considers that the imposition of the life sentence for each of the accused is appropriate and therefore confirms the sentence imposed by the trial chamber," he said, as he wrapped up a two-hour reading of the verdict.


https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/sq5flvcVxvGm.BXCIC_A7w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MTI4MDtoPTk2MDtpbD 1wbGFuZQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/7fc316bb11164839b2d68146591a3a37.jpg
Khieu Samphan, former Khmer Rouge head of state, sits in a court room of the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Supreme Court Chamber said the 2014 verdict by a U.N.-assisted Khmer Rouge tribunal was "appropriate" given the gravity of the crimes and roles of the two defendants — Khieu Samphan, the 85-year-old Khmer Rouge head of state, and Nuon Chea, the 90-year-old right-hand man to the communist group's late leader Pol Pot. The two men, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, sat impassively as the lengthy verdict was read out Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016.

He added that the "massive scale of the crimes" showed a complete lack of consideration for the "ultimate fate of the Cambodian population, especially the most vulnerable group." Lawyers for Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea filed lengthy appeals against their verdicts by the Khmer Rouge tribunal — formally called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, which was set up in 2006. They had alleged a slew of legal and factual errors, as well as biases by the judges. They suggested that their clients were unfairly being singled out while the Cambodian government sought to block the tribunal from trying other suspects.


https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/aeQMuRviWi9OLZ3KeJqWgw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MTI4MDtoPTk2MDtpbD 1wbGFuZQ--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/dee56e2e243f49b8a708cb162271d815.jpg
Nuon Chea, who was the Khmer Rouge's chief ideologist and No. 2 leader sits in a court room of the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Supreme Court Chamber said the 2014 verdict by a U.N.-assisted Khmer Rouge tribunal was "appropriate" given the gravity of the crimes and roles of the two defendants — Khieu Samphan, the 85-year-old Khmer Rouge head of state, and Nuon Chea, the 90-year-old right-hand man to the communist group's late leader Pol Pot. The two men, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, sat impassively as the lengthy verdict was read out Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016.

The two defendants are also on trial in a second case where they are facing charges of genocide against ethnic minorities and foreigners, and implementing policies of rape and forced marriages. Originally all the charges were to have been part of one trial, but fears that they would die before proceedings could finish led to their case being broken into two parts, know as Case 002/01 and 002/02. Their two co-defendents, Ieng Sary, the third-ranking Khmer Rouge leader and its foreign minister, and his wife, Ieng Thirith, died during the first phase of their trial.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cambodian-court-deliver-verdict-key-khmer-rouge-trial-031134099.html?ref=gs