Al Jazeera
PHNOM PENH, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Two ailing former senior
Khmer Rouge leaders on Thursday denied that they were involved in alleged crimes
against humanity during the Democratic Kampuchea, or known as Khmer Rouge
regime from 1975 to 1979, under which an estimated 1.7 million people died.
Nuon Chea, 86, also known as "Brother Number 2,"
the chief ideologue of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, and Khieu Samphan, 81,
the regime's former head of state, are charged with crimes against humanity
related to the forced movement of the population from Phnom Penh in April 1975
and the execution of Khmer Republic soldiers, according to the Extraordinary
Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC).
Nuon Chea said the eviction was voluntary, not by force.
"The eviction was in fears of the bombardments by the
United States on Phnom Penh City after the collapse of the Lon Nol's government
and was to increase labor for farming production," he said on the last day
of the trial's closing statements.
He said he was unaware of the execution of Lon Nol soldiers
as he didn't have any executive power during the regime.
"I was an ideologist and my duties were to educate the
party members to love, protect and serve people, I had never educated them to
kill people, deprive them of food or commit any genocide," he said.
"I love my people, I did not have any reason to commit genocide against my
nation."
He said that he had not involved in any crimes during the
Democratic Kampuchea as alleged by the co-prosecutors and said that the
co-prosecutors have not had enough evidence to prove their charges against him.
He blamed the deaths and executions of people during the
regime on the betrayal by local cadres and regional leaders, not the Communist
Party of Kampuchea's policy.
"In conclusion, I would like to ask the court to acquit
me from all charges and release me," Nuon Chea said.
Khieu Samphan said that he wanted the court to give him
justice, saying that he was innocent.
"I was among the powerful persons during the regime,
but I had no power as them," he told the court in his closing statement.
Kong Sam Onn, national co-defense lawyer for Khieu Samphan,
said that his client was a "nominal leader" during the regime.
Co-prosecutors insisted on Wednesday that Cambodia's
war-crime court should give life imprisonment to the two defendants.
"Witnesses and documents have clearly showed that they
ordered forced evictions and mass executions during the regime,"
international co-prosecutor Tarik Abdulhak said in his closing rebuttal
statement. "Again, we request the court to give them life in jail."
A verdict for the two accused persons is expected in the
first half of 2014, according to Dim Sovannarom, chief of the ECCC's Public
Affairs Section.
Launched in 2006, the United Nations-backed tribunal is
seeking justice for an estimated 1.7 million people who died during the regime
from 1975 to 1979 due to starvation, overwork, torture, execution, and
massacre.
In March this year, another defendant Ieng Sary, former
foreign minister of the regime, died on trial at the age of 87 due to illness,
while the case against his wife Ieng Thirith, 81, ex- minister of social
affairs during the regime, was suspended in September last year after the court
ruled dementia left her unfit to stand trial.
So far, the cash-strapped tribunal has achieved only one
conviction, sentencing ex-chief of Tuol Sleng prison Kaing Guek Eav to life in
prison for overseeing the deaths of around 15,000 people during the regime.
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