Khmer Rouge tribunal indicts 4 senior leaders ahead of second trial

(16 Sep 2010)
FILE: Date and Location Unknown
1. Various of Khmer Rouge regime ideologist Nuon Chea (right)
2. STILL: Various photos of Nuon Chea (second from left) among other Khmer Rouge leaders
3. Various of skulls of Khmer Rouge regime victims
4. Various of Khmer Rouge soldiers
5. Former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary; and his wife Ieng Thirith, ex-minister for social affairs
6. Former head of state and public face of the regime Khieu Samphan, speaking
7. Black and white footage of Khieu embracing Khmer Rouge supreme leader Pol Pot (right)
8. Various of Khmer Rouge soldiers fighting
9. Zoom in to skulls of victims
STORYLINE
Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal indicted the four top surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime blamed for 1.7 (m) million deaths in the 1970s, paving the way for the panel's long-awaited second trial next year.
The defendants, now frail octogenarians, deny any guilt for their roles in the radical communist rule during which about a quarter of Cambodia's population died due to starvation, overwork or execution.
The trial, due to start by mid-2011, will bring to the stand Nuon Chea, 84, the group's ideologist; former head of state and public face of the regime, Khieu Samphan, 79; former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary; and his wife Ieng Thirith, ex-minister for social affairs, both in their 80s.
Each face four charges: crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes and a combined charge of murder, torture and religious persecution, co-investigating judge You Bunleng told a news conference.
The indictments follow the conviction in July of the regime's chief jailer, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder.
He was sentenced to serve 19 years in prison - a term criticised by many Cambodians as too lenient.
Duch, 67, (pronounced DOIK) was the first defendant to be tried.
He supervised the notorious S-21 prison where as many as 16-thousand people were tortured before being executed.
While Duch's trial was assisted by his cooperation with the tribunal and the meticulous record-keeping of S-21, marshalling evidence against the Khmer Rouge chiefs, could prove more complicated.
Their trial will also likely be more politically sensitive because some current Cambodian leaders were once lower-level Khmer Rouge cadre themselves.
The devastation to Cambodia caused by the shadowy regime's radical policies during its 1975-79 is beyond doubt.
Towns and cities were depopulated in a disastrous agrarian experiment that shunned technology and persecuted the nation's educated classes.
Perceived opponents of the regime, even within its own ranks, were ruthlessly purged.
But the opaque nature of the regime's workings may make it harder to establish complicity of the accused.
Several other major Khmer Rouge figures have died, including the supreme leader, Pol Pot, in 1998 - a factor that only adds to the pressure on the tribunal to expedite proceedings against the four indicted on Thursday.
None of the four defendants have shown any sign they may break ranks or speak openly, and some experts said Duch's relatively light sentence could be an incentive for him to testify.
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[@namquoc1545]

campuchia , thank you , the us , and / unhcr / so much.