Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary sits in a court room on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
4 May, 2011
Source: AFP
PHNOM PENH - LAWYERS for former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary urged Cambodia's UN-backed court on Wednesday to free the elderly war crimes suspect ahead of his genocide trial.
The 85-year-old's defence team argued that his continued detention was illegal because their client's case had not been heard within four months of the issue of the indictment in September, surpassing a court 'deadline'.
One of the few public faces of the secretive regime, Ieng Sary faces charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide over the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and execution in 1975-1979.
He has been hospitalised several times for a heart condition and blood in his urine since his arrest in 2007.
His lawyers called for his 'immediate release', or that he be confined to his home in Phnom Penh. He is currently being held at a purpose-built detention facility near the court.
'House arrest will ensure his presence for the trial, will ensure that he doesn't flee the country, and would also ensure that no harm comes to him or to others,' argued defence lawyer Michael Karnavas. -- AFP
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