Former leader agrees to testify in Cambodia's Khmer Rouge trial

Khieu Samphan, the leader often referred to as the "public face of the Khmer Rouge" from 1975-1979, agreed to appear in court if a trial to bring former leaders to justice takes place and prosecutors find it necessary for him to testify, Prime Minister Hun Sen said. "This act is good for Khieu Samphan and other leaders that they come forward to testify," said Prime Minister Hun Sen during an inauguration ceremony in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng. "That way there is no need to bring him and others to court."

The Prime Minister went to the northeastern province for an inauguration ceremony, but he also used the opportunity to assure former Khmer Rouge commanders, soldiers and sympathizers that they had nothing to worry about from a genocide tribunal. "Please, people affiliated with the Khmer Rouge don't feel afraid or run into the forest to support your former leaders," the Prime Minister said. "We will not bring 12 million Cambodians to court, or even 1,000 or even 100. Just top leaders."

The Prime Minister addressed concerns that he would meddle in the judiciary process after making statements last week calling on a court to allow Ieng Sary, who was granted a royal pardon for leading a mass Khmer Rouge defection, to remain free from prosecution. "I can not guarantee to anyone that they will not be prosecuted by the court because this is the power of the court," the Prime Minister said. "I have no right to protect anyone from prosecution. There is no law allowing me to do such a thing." More than 1,000 people were present at the inauguration ceremony, some of which were former Khmer Rouge commanders, soldiers and sympathizers.

"No one in Anlong Veng feels afraid of a tribunal that will affect leaders," said Yim Phanna, a one-star general in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. "We feel happy that the court will bring top leaders to justice. I don't feel afraid. I was not a top Khmer Rouge leader." Yim Phanna was a former senior Khmer Rouge commander in Anlong Veng, the last Khmer Rouge stronghold to fall to government forces in 1998, before defecting to the government in 1998.

The Cambodian Parliament has already approved legislation that would set up a joint genocide tribunal with UN and local judiciary to try senior leaders of the radical communist movement responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians. Experts say the legislation, which is now being reviewed by the Constitutional Council, will be signed by King Norodom Sihanouk and become Cambodian law by next week.

(la/dpa)