A former Khmer Rouge commander convicted of the 1994 murders of three Western backpackers but on the run since February was on his way to jail yesterday, a day after his capture, officials said.
Chhouk Rin, 51, was sentenced in absentia in 2002 to a life term by Cambodia's top court after exhausting all avenues of appeal nine months ago, but authorities failed to capture him until Tuesday.
According to Ouch Nuon, a close confidant and ex-neighbor who has provided medical care to Chhouk Rin for many years, he had returned from harvesting rice at a farm he fled to in northwestern Anlong Veng, one of the Khmer Rouge's final strongholds, when authorities surrounded his small home.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said that Chhouk Rin was due to arrive at the nation's largest jail Prey Sar, located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh and notorious for its overcrowded and dismal conditions, some time yesterday.
"Chhouk Rin's case is finished, so there is no need to send him anywhere else, just straight to prison," he said.
The Supreme Court had found that Chhouk Rin ordered a group of his soldiers to ambush a train and snatch Australian David Wilson, 29, Briton Mark Slater, 28, and French national Jean-Michel Braquet, 27, as they travelled between Phnom Penh and the coastal city of Sihanoukville.
Thirteen Cambodians also died in the attack, and the Westerners were held for two months by Khmer Rouge rebels before ransom negotiations failed and they were killed, triggering an international outcry.
The ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge movement led by Pol Pot left up to 2 million people dead, and although they were ousted in 1979, elements of the Khmer Rouge fought the government until 1998.
The capture of Chhouk Rin, who has maintained his innocence, came a month after Prime Minister Hun Sen met with French President Jacques Chirac in Paris.
Asked whether Chirac had pressured the premier to make the arrest, Khieu Sopheak said the French leader had raised the issue but that authorities were searching for Chhouk Rin anyway.
"The request from him just coincided with our commitment," he said.
Chhouk Rin's wife Yem Sao, 37, was informed of her husband's arrest on Tuesday and complained that the government had violated the terms of his defection to their ranks in 1994.
"The government promised my husband that if he defected to them, the government would let him live freely. But now we cannot live freely and live peacefully," she said.
She said she last saw her husband in August at their home in Phnom Voar, located just a few kilometers from where the attack on the train occurred in Kampot Province, but was in phone contact.
Neighbor Ouch Nuon last saw him in June but also received regular calls. He said that his friend, who has HIV and tuberculosis, would not live long in jail.
"During a telephone conversation Chhouk Rin told me that he had decided that it was better he die in the jungle than in jail," Ouch Nuon said.
The pursuit of justice for the victims of the attack through the Cambodian courts was a long and traumatic wrangle. Two other former Khmer Rouge members, Nuon Paet and Sam Bith, are serving life sentences for the killings after exhausting their appeals.
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has fired his national police chief, who gained attention for leading the separate arrests of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on orders of the International Criminal Court and televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for alleged child sex trafficking. Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not cite a reason for the removal of General Nicolas Torre as head of the 232,000-member national police force, a position he was appointed to by Marcos in May and which he would have held until 2027. He was replaced by another senior police general, Jose
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,