Khmer Rouge leader arrested
Ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary and wife to go before UN-backed genocide tribunal.
Ieng Sary’s arrest had been widely anticipated as one of five unnamed suspects earlier listed by tribunal prosecutors.
‘Gentle person’
Two of them, Nuon Chea, the former Khmer Rouge ideologist, and Kaing Khek Lev, better known as Duch, the former head of the notorious S-21 or Tuol Sleng prison, have already been taken into custody.
An estimated two million Cambodians died of hunger, disease, overwork and execution during the Khmer Rouge’s rule between 1975 and 1979.
Like other surviving Khmer Rouge leaders, the 77-year-old Ieng Sary who served as deputy prime minister as well as foreign minister, has repeatedly denied responsibility for any crimes.
In Bangkok, Thailand, for a medical check-up in October, Ieng Sary told The Associated Press: “I have done nothing wrong. I am a gentle person.
“I believe in good deeds. I even made good deeds to save several people’s lives. But let them [the tribunal] find what the truth is.”
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| Ieng Sary has repeatedly denied committing any crimes [AP] |
It said there was evidence of Ieng Sary’s participation in planning, directing and co-ordinating the Khmer Rouge “policies of forcible transfer, forced labour and unlawful killings”.
Critics of the UN tribunal say the process has been left too late and suspects may die before ever being brought before a court.
Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, died in 1998, while his military chief, Ta Mok, died in 2006.