Judges butt heads over Cambodia war crime case

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian judge and international judge are divided on whether a former Khmer Rouge commander charged with genocide and crimes against humanity should be prosecuted by a UN-backed court.

The Cambodian co-investigating judge at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal said the case against Meas Muth, an ex-Khmer Rouge Navy commander, should be dismissed, according to a statement released by the judges’ office on Wednesday.

Judge You Bunleng said Meas Muth was neither a senior leader of the ultra-communist regime nor most responsible for the crimes committed by it under which some 1.7 million people died in the 1970s.

But international co-investigating judge Michael Bohlander of Germany disagreed, arguing that Meas Muth’s position and conduct marked him as a major player in the regime and a willing and driven participant in the brutal implementation of its criminal and inhuman policies.

Meas Muth, 80, was accused of genocide against Vietnamese in Cambodia, crimes against humanity and other crimes at various work sites and security centres, including the infamous S-21 Security Centre in Phnom Penh where thousands were tortured and killed.

Earlier this month, the tribunal found senior Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan guilty of genocide against minority groups, the first genocide convictions for crimes committed in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.

Following the verdict, Cambodian Interior Minister Sar Kheng then said there were no more senior Khmer Rouge leaders to prosecute and that the process had ended, local media reported, despite other cases still pending before the tribunal.