Im Chaem, a former Khmer Rouge commander, holds her grandson at her home in Anlong Veng district, in Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, where she is a first deputy commune chief. The 65-year-old former commander told VOA Khmer in an exclusive interview in July 2011 that she is not guilty of the crimes raised by prosecutors. (Photo: Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer)
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Oddar Meanchey province
“If the prosecutors said I committed bad deeds, and take me to court and prosecute me, then I would have to finish life.”
Im Chaem, a former Khmer Rouge commander who is among five suspects at the UN-backed tribunal, says she is innocent of charges levied against her by court prosecutors and jested in an exclusive interview that charges of war crimes would be “deadly” for her.
According to an introductory submission by prosecutors obtained by VOA Khmer, Im Chaem has been implicated in a purge of the Khmer Rouge’s Northwest Zone and as head of a security center where an estimated 40,000 people died under the regime.
Prosecutors say Im Chaem was involved in a “common criminal plan, or joint criminal enterprise,” along with a second suspect, Ta Tith, to “execute all perceived enemies of the [Khmer Rouge] regime.”
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