Dear Editor,

I was struck by an article titled “Ieng Thirith unfit” published in The Phnom Penh Post on November 18. I think Khmer Rouge (KR) defendant Ieng Thirith is not only fit to stand trial, but smart enough to cheat the Trial Chamber. I share my story with the KR Supreme Trial Chamber before a killer walks out of a detention center and smiles.

I was born after the KR regime, but I learned some stories about the regime. One interesting story I learned is that during the KR regime a few people pretended to be mentally unfit in order to survive the killing. In my view, Ieng Thirith learned the way her victims escaped from her killing and now she uses the unfit reason as a pretext to get away from justice.

I think Ieng Thirith is fit and even smarter than the Trial Chamber. Had she been unfit, she would have blamed herself for killing people instead of warning prosecutors of going to the seventh level of hell.

If Ieng Thirith were unfit, she would cry for help from those who died between 1975 and 1979, especially unfit victims, rather than using an unfit reason to re-victimise the survivors.

Pann Lysrun, Phnom Penh

Send letters to: [email protected] or PO?Box 146, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Post reserves the right to edit letters to a shorter length.The views expressed above are solely the author’s and do not reflect any positions taken by The Phnom Penh Post.