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2012-02-04 10:44:19 GMT+7 (ICT)
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations-backed tribunal in Cambodia has increased the sentence of a former Khmer Rouge jailer to life in prison, the Phnom Penh Post reported on Friday.
Kaing Guek Eav, commonly known by his alias Duch, had appealed to reduce his 35-year sentence which he was given in 2010, although he was slated to serve only about 19 years behind bar. Instead, the prison chief at the notorious S-21 detention facility had his jail sentence increased to life.
The 69-year-old was found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture. He pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness, arguing that he was just following the orders of senior leaders.
"In the Supreme Court Chamber's view, [Duch's] leadership role and particular enthusiasm in the commission of his crimes are aggravating factors that should be given significant weight in the determination of his sentence," Supreme Court Chamber president Kong Srim read from a summary of the judgment. He added that the "particularly shocking and heinous character" of his crimes over an "extended period of time ... undoubtedly place this case among the gravest before international criminal tribunals."
The court ruled that Duch has served 12 years and 269 days of his sentence so far, including time he was illegally detained by the Cambodian Military Court from May 1999, as his detention there was for "broadly similar" reasons as his ultimate conviction. The ruling signals the conclusion of the tribunal's landmark first case.
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts Cambodia (ECCC), which was set up under an agreement signed in 2003 by the UN and the Cambodian Government, is tasked with trying those deemed most responsible for crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled the country from April 1975 to January 1979. It is estimated that at least 1.7 million Cambodians died during the Khmer Rouge's reign.
-- thaivisa.com © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-02-04
