Cambodian Court Sentences Khmer Rouge Prison Chief to 19 Years

VOA News
Washington, DC 26 July 2010

Court considered mitigating circumstances, such as an expression of remorse, cooperation with the court and time served

A U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia has found a former Khmer Rouge leader guilty of numerous crimes against humanity, and ordered him to spend 19 years in prison.

Prosecutors had asked for a 40-year sentence for former prison commander Kaing Guek Eav, better known as "Duch." But the court handed down a sentence of 35 years and then reduced it to 19, considering mitigating circumstances, such as an expression of remorse, cooperation with the court and time served.

He was found guilty for his role in the deaths of at least 14,000 people as the Khmer Rouge's chief torturer three decades ago.

Hundreds of victims of the Khmer Rouge regime gathered outside the courthouse reacted emotionally to the verdict - the first from the war crimes court.

Duch is the first of five senior Khmer Rouge leaders to stand trial for his part in the genocide committed in the 1970s. More than 1.7 million people - a quarter of Cambodia's population - died by starvation, disease, torture and execution.

Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which has spent more than a decade collating evidence against surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge, says the verdict will play an enormous part in helping Cambodians to reconcile their tragic past.

Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998.

Duch admitted guilt but said he should be acquitted because he was not a senior leader and was just following orders. Cambodia has no death penalty.