By Paul Chesser on 7.8.09 @ 2:41PM
I don't know if I've ever heard of a court case in which the
defendant challenged the truthfulness of a witness against him by
admitting to even more heinous crimes, but that's what
happened this week in the
trial of
Khmer Rouge jailer Kaing Guek Eav, or
Comrade Duch.
I don't know if I've ever heard of a court case in which the
defendant challenged the truthfulness of a witness against him by
admitting to even more heinous crimes, but that's what
happened this week in the
trial of
Khmer Rouge jailer Kaing Guek Eav, or
Comrade Duch. The Cambodian Nuremburg-type hearings continued
this week with testimony from a few who claimed they were
held at the S-21 prison in the late 1970s under Duch's control,
but he doubted them:
More than 14,000 people died at the S-21 prison. Eight
people have now provided testimony of their detainment,
although Duch has questioned whether all of them really spent
time there, and one of the judges has raised some
doubts....
Tuesday, another survivor, Lay Chan, said he had been
detained at S-21 for two months in 1976 and interrogated twice
before his release. Duch responded that nobody was released
from S-21 and Lay could therefore not have been held
there....
Wednesday the court heard from a female survivor, Chin
Meth, 51, who described a routine of forced labor followed by
beatings during a 15-day stay at S-21 in 1977.
However, Duch queried her recollection, too, although he
said she could have been detained and interrogated
elsewhere.
"The fact is that if she was transferred to S-21, she would
be dead. She could not be let out," Duch told the judges. "If
people were transferred to S-21, they would be
smashed."
topics:
genocide
