Acting international co-prosecutor William Smith (left) and national co-prosecutor Chea Leang (right) address a press conference at the end of the Duch trial on Friday. Credit:Robert Carmichael/IPSPHNOM PENH, Nov 28 (IPS) - "I would ask the chamber to release me. Thank you."
Those were the final words spoken by 67-year-old war crimes defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, better known as ‘Comrade Duch’, on Friday at the end of his 77-day trial in front of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).
To anyone following the trial, his request was staggering—it represented a complete change of defence direction at the last minute. Additionally, the legal reasoning behind the request was fatally flawed.
It stunned the court, the audience and trial observers: Here was a man, whose defence strategy had been built on contrition and accepting responsibility for his role in the deaths of thousands, telling the court in its final hour that international law does not apply and that he should not be on trial in the first place.
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