By Suy Se
AFP
LAWYERS for former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch will call for his release when Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court begins hearing appeals against his 30-year sentence.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was found guilty in July of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people at the notorious torture prison Tuol Sleng in the late 1970s.
He was the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face an international tribunal.
During his trial, the jailer repeatedly apologised for overseeing mass murder at the detention centre – also known as S-21 – but shocked the court by finally asking to be acquitted in November 2009.
In their appeal hearing today, Duch’s lawyers plan to argue that the court has no jurisdiction over their client because he was not one of the regime’s senior leaders, nor one of those most responsible for the crimes committed.
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