Recapping a week of closing arguments:
Monday: Judges should not be fooled by the partial confessions and feigned contrition Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, has employed in a bid to downplay the savage crimes he committed as Tuol Sleng prison commandant, civil party lawyers argued Monday during the first round of closing statements in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s first case.
Tuesday: A lengthy prison sentence for Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, would serve as a resounding repudiation of the facility he ran and the sadistic policies he so zealously promoted, prosecutors told the Khmer Rouge tribunal in their closing statements Tuesday.
Wednesday: Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, reiterated his remorse for Khmer Rouge-era crimes Wednesday, but not before using the bulk of his closing statement to downplay the torture facility’s significance and paint himself as an unwilling “cog in a running machine” over which he had no control. AND: Prosecutors at the Khmer Rouge tribunal on Wednesday requested a 40-year sentence for Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, saying the length would “reflect his conscious and free choice to abandon all respect for human life” while overseeing the torture and execution of more than 12,000 detainees.
Thursday: The international and national lawyers for Tuol Sleng prison commandant Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, offered conflicting defence strategies in closing statements this week: The former called for a lenient sentence, and the latter demanded Duch’s acquittal and release. AND: French defence lawyer Francois Roux on Thursday scolded prosecutors for describing Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, as a driving force behind Khmer Rouge-era executions, saying his client was guilty only of the “crime of obedience” and should not be made into a scapegoat.
Friday: Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, on Friday asked judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal to release him, and his lawyer later clarified that the former chief of Tuol Sleng prison was seeking an acquittal on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges.
