Jacques Verges, the lawyer for notorious assassin Carlos the Jackal, arrived in Cambodia to defend Khieu Samphan, the former head of state of the Cambodia Khmer Rouge at the war crimes tribunal there. Khieu was a prominent communist thinker prior to entering the political scene to force a eugenic campaign in Cambodia following the coup that brought the Khmer Rouge to power in the wake of the Vietnam War. His doctoral thesis, “Cambodia's Economy and Industrial Development” preached a national autonomy that blamed wealthy industrial states for poverty in the Third World. He was arrested in 2007 following his release from hospital after suffering a stroke.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) ‚ A French lawyer who defended terrorists and a former Nazi officer arrived in Cambodia on Monday to represent a former Khmer Rouge leader.
Jacques Verges declined to comment and only said “go to the court” before being whisked away in a car after his arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport.
Verges will join a Cambodian attorney to argue former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan's appeal against his pretrial detention.
The U.N.-assisted tribunal has held Khieu Samphan since Nov. 19 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from atrocities committed under Khmer Rouge rule in 1975-79.
The communist group's radical policies led to the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.
Khieu Samphan is one of five former leaders of the group held for their alleged roles in the atrocities. He has repeatedly denied any involvement.
Verges has won international notoriety for his past efforts in defending criminals such as Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal and Nazi Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie.
Khieu Samphan has said he has known Verges since he attended university in France in the 1950s, when both were active in student movements against French colonialism.
Khieu Samphan's defense team also includes Say Bory, a Cambodian lawyer who used to serve on the constitutional council, the country's highest legal body.
Say Bory said the defense is challenging both the tribunal's grounds for detaining Khieu Samphan and its arguments implicating him in the Khmer Rouge's atrocities.
