Co-defense lawyers terms senior Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan as "gentleman"

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Co-defense lawyers for former senior Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan told the Cambodia's war- crime tribunal on Friday that his client was a "gentleman" and was painted as a "monster". "Khieu Samphan is a clean person and had not committed crimes as alleged by the co-prosecutors," Kong Sam Onn, national co-defense lawyer for Khieu Samphan, said in his closing statement. "He could not take responsibilities in every action that had happened during the Democratic Kampuchea."

Even though ex-Khmer Rouge cadres having testified in the court had said that Khieu Samphan had good characters and was a kind, clean and gentle person with his loyalty in the obligations for the nation, he said.

Ailing Khieu Samphan, 81, the former head of state of the Democratic Kampuchea, or known as Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979, and Nuon Chea, 86, also known as "Brother Number 2", the regime's chief ideologue, are charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, according to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC).
Under the regime, an estimated 1.7 million people had died.

Anta Guisse, international co-defense lawyer for Khieu Samphan, denied all the charges by the co-prosecutors against her client, saying that Khieu Samphan did not know about the force evictions of people during the regime. Closing statements in the trial are scheduled to be completed by the end of the month. According to the court, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan will deliver their closing statements on Oct. 31. Dim Sovannarom, chief of Public Affairs Section at the ECCC, said that a verdict for the two accused persons is expected in the first half of 2014. 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. To date, 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.

Co-prosecutors requested the Cambodia's war-crime tribunal on Monday to give life imprisonments to the two ailing former senior leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea.
"The accused persons had committed crimes against humanity related to the forced movement of the population from Phnom Penh in April 1975 and later from other regions, and the execution of Khmer Republic soldiers at Toul Po Chrey in Pursat province," International Co-prosecutor William Smith said in a closing statement against the two former senior leaders on Monday.

National Co-prosecutor Chea Leang said the two defendants must be responsible for the crimes based on evidence.

"With sufficient evidence, we ask the court to sentence the two defendants to life in prison," she requested the court while Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were sitting in the courtroom to listen to the proceedings.