The former foreign minister for the Khmer Rouge, leng Sary, declared his innocence on Sunday. The former minister was in Thailand over the weekend on declining health issues. His comments reflect rumors regarding the U.N. war crimes tribunal examining the role of the Khmer Rouge in the deaths of some 1.7 million people when they ruled Cambodia during the late 1970's. He claims he had done nothing wrong.
Leng Sary, 77, was in the Thai capital, Bangkok, over the weekend for a regular checkup for a health condition. He arrived being assisted in a wheel chair by his aide. He claimed to have heard about his possible role at the U.N. war crimes tribunal on the radio when he left Cambodia for Thailand.
The Khmer Rouge, led by its president Pol Pot, led Cambodia from 1975 – 1979 following the conflict spiral from U.S. operations in neighboring Vietnam. They sought to establish a "new people" through isolation and the creation of a classless agrarian utopia. Khmer Rouge leaders developed "killing fields" where the ultra-communist regime practiced a quasi-eugenics campaign through forced labor and extermination of Cambodian elites.
The tribunal has recommended prosecution for five former members of the Khmer Rouge. Only two, Nuan Chea – considered Pol Pot's right-hand man, and Kaing Guek Eav, (“Duch”), who was the head of security at the notorious S-21 detention center – have been named by tribunal officials. The other suspects have not been identified, though it is believed leng Sary is among the unidentified suspects.
A previous tribunal set up in Cambodia in 1979 found Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader, and leng Sary guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. That tribunal, however, lacked the judicial strength to prosecute its conviction.
