Two Crimes Added to Duch Indictment
Judges ruled out a legal principle Friday that would hold other jailed leaders of the Khmer Rouge responsible for the prison chief's al
Jailed Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch was handed two morecounts in his atrocity crimes indictment Friday, but he was not charged under alegal principle that would link four other leaders to his alleged crimes. Chief judge Prak Kimsan announced the decision of the KhmerRouge tribunal’s Pre-Trial Chamber Friday, adding the crimes of murder andtorture from Cambodia’s Penal Code to charges of war crimes and crimesagainst humanity. The decision moved the tribunal one step closer to Duch's trial, expected in early 2009, the first ever for courts that have faltered from their inception, alarming critics who worry leaders will perish before they face trial. Tribunal prosecutors in September lodged an appeal against theindictment, part of a so-called “closing order” by the investigating judges, noting Duch had not been indicted for the two crimes,which fall under the 1956 Penal Code. Prosecutors also noted Duch, who real name is Kaing Kek Iev, was not indicted for all crimescommitted in the notorious prison he ran, Tuol Sleng, known to the Khmer Rougeby the codename S-21. The Pre-Trial judges said Friday they had found enoughreason in the appeal to add the two crimes to Duch’s indictment. They announced they had found enough cause formurder, because Duch had allegedly planned or incitedkillings at S-21 and the nearby site of mass graves, or “killing fields,” atChhoeung Ek, a commune in Phnom Penh’sDankao district. Duch’s defense lawyers did not comment after the hearing,but in a brief submitted to the Pre-Trial Chamber in November, they expressedworry that the murder and torture claims could delay the court through furtherinvestigation. However, Hong Kimsuon, a lawyer for the civil parties inDuch’s case, said Friday the new indictment would not extend the investigationor prolong the process. “It is only an additional [two charges], and after that they willgo forward to trial,” he said. Judge Prak Kimsan also said Friday Duch would be detaineduntil his trial and the case would now be forwarded to the Trial Chamber. Prak Kimsan said the legal principal known as joint criminalenterprise, which could potentially link the other leaders with Duch’s crimes,had not been satisfactorily demonstrated.