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Victim confronts ex-Khmer Rouge leader in court

A Cambodian genocide victim confronted a former Khmer Rouge leader for the first time in a courtroom yesterday, demanding to know who was responsible for the "hellish regime" that caused the deaths of some 1.7 million people, including her parents.

Tribunal officials called it a historic moment when Theary Seng took the stand in the second day of a hearing for former leader Noun Chea's appeal against his pretrial detention at Cambodia's UN-backed genocide tribunal.

Nuon Chea has denied any guilt, saying he is not a "cruel" man.

"If Nuon Chea claimed he was not responsible, who was then [responsible] for the loss of my parents and other victims' loved ones?" asked Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American.

`hellish regime'

"What we know is that Nuon Chea was the second leader after [late Khmer Rouge leader] Pol Pot. It was a hellish regime," Theary Seng said.

No Khmer Rouge leaders have ever stood trial for their regime's activities, and there are fears the aging and infirm defendants could die before facing justice. Pol Pot died in 1998.

Nuon Chea, who was the main ideologist for the now defunct communist group, has been held since Sept. 19 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his involvement in the Khmer Rouge's ruthless 1975 to 1979 rule.

He is one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders detained by the tribunal, which is expected to hold the first trials later this year.

Nuon Chea sat stoically across from Theary Seng in the courtroom as she testified. When she was seven years old, Theary Seng and her four-year-old brother were "shackled and held under inhumane condition in a Khmer Rouge prison," she said.

Peter Foster, a tribunal spokesman, said the courtroom confrontation was historic.

"It's the first time a victim is able to stand up and confront a defendant," Foster said. "It's extremely symbolic."

"We made history today," he said.

Nuon Chea is the second defendant to appear before judges to appeal for release from pretrial detention. He has argued the tribunal's investigating judges did not have sufficient grounds to detain him.

blaming foreigners

Nuon Chea yesterday also blamed foreigners for Cambodia's current ills.

"My fellow Cambodians, today Cambodia is enjoying peace, solidarity and national reconciliation and its development is improving gradually," the octogenarian former guerrilla chief, charged with crimes against humanity, said at his bail hearing.

"But difficulties remain due to the influence of foreign countries that are hindering Cambodia's growth," Nuon Chea said without elaborating.

His only other words were in praise of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a one-eyed ex-Khmer Rouge fighter who defected to Vietnam in the late 1970s before returning with the 1979 Vietnamese invasion that ousted Pol Pot's four-year reign of terror.

The court is expected to rule on Nuon Chea's bail request in several days. He is highly unlikely to be freed.
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