KR Charged

From the G & M:
"Khmer Rouge official charged in 1978 killing of Canadian Stuart Glass"

 

The special tribunal dealing with Khmer Rouge atrocities has for the first time filed charges related to the killing nearly 37 years ago of Stuart Glass, a Canadian whose yacht was attacked while he sailed near the shores of Cambodia. An investigating judge announced Tuesday that he had charged a former Khmer Rouge functionary, Meas Muth, with homicide and crimes against humanity. The charges against Mr. Meas include crimes “against Vietnamese, Thai and other foreigners at sea.” Another former Khmer Rouge, Im Chaem, was also charged with homicide and crimes against humanity in other cases. Mr. Glass, who grew up in Richmond, B.C., is believed to have been gunned down when the yacht Foxy Lady was intercepted by the Khmer Rouge Navy in August of 1978. Two other men aboard the boat, a New Zealander and a Briton, were captured, tortured for weeks, then executed. The latest charges, part of Case 003 of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, come after years of internal wranglings over whether more suspects should be brought to trial, beyond the initial indictment of five high-ranking figures. Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia’s long-time leader who is also a former Khmer Rouge cadre, has repeatedly warned that further prosecutions would create chaos in Cambodia. The tribunal, which is backed by the United Nations, is a hybrid court that operates with local and international jurists. The foreign judges and prosecutors have clashed in the past with their Cambodian counterparts over whether to charge more suspects. Tuesday’s charges were filed by co-investigating judge Mark B. Harmon of the United States, without the agreement of Cambodian co-investigating judge You Bunleng. Specifics of the allegations against Mr. Meas were accidentally made public in December, 2012, when a prosecution submission was mistakenly posted on a public Web page. The document said Mr. Meas was commander of the Democratic Kampuchea Navy from April, 1975, to January, 1979. The DK Navy “was responsible for aggressively defending” waters claimed by the Khmer Rouge, the document said, adding that many Thai and Vietnamese fishermen were captured in border areas, sent to the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, tortured and executed. “Nationals of other countries were also captured by the DK Navy and sent to S-21. For example, at least four Westerners were captured by the DK Navy in Cambodian waters and transferred to S-21, where they were executed,” the document said.

More details about what happened to Mr. Glass were heard during the trial of S-21 prison head, Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Comrade Duch. After years of hearings, the tribunal has only convicted three people: Comrade Duch and two senior government members, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan. The latter two are currently on trial on other charges, including genocide. The cases against two others ended when former foreign minister Ieng Sary died in 2013, while his wife, social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, was deemed unfit to stand trial because of dementia.

 

^  It's very odd to think that there would be any real criminal charges or guilty verdicts against any Khmer Rouge official when the Prime Minister is former Khmer Rouge. The KR murdered around a million of their own people (ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Chinese, those that worked for the French colonial leaders, those that could speak a foreign language and even those that wore glasses.) While the majority of KR will never be brought to justice for their crimes hopefully this one will be for killing Glass. No country can move forward completely until it confronts its past. Cambodia is a striving country that has come a long way from its Civil War, Khmer Rouge genocide, War and occupation with Vietnam to what it is today and while it still has a lot to do this charge could help lead the country further. ^

 

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/khmer-rouge-officials-charged-in-killing-of-canadian-37-years-ago/article23262645/