Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Turkey coup comes up at KRT

Turkey coup comes up at KRT

Expert witness Henri Locard gives his testimony before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia yesterday during Case 002/02. ECCC
Expert witness Henri Locard gives his testimony before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia yesterday during Case 002/02. ECCC

Turkey coup comes up at KRT

The defence for Nuon Chea at the Khmer Rouge tribunal yesterday drew a link between the rhetoric used in the wake of the recent coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and that of Democratic Kampuchea.

Charges pertaining to internal purges form part of the current Case 002/02 against Chea and his co-defendant Khieu Samphan, though the Chea defence has argued the Khmer Rouge faced legitimate threats of a coup d’état from within its own ranks in the late 1970s.

During his cross-examination of expert witness Henri Locard, Chea’s lawyer, Victor Koppe, asked the historian if terms like “microbes”, “cancer” and “parasite” formed part of “slogans that strikingly expressed Democratic Kampuchea policies”.

Locard, who compiled Khmer Rouge sayings in Pol Pot’s Little Red Book, agreed those terms were used to dehumanise their internal enemies and “sweep them clean”. “Before eliminating the people, they had to be excluded from mankind,” Locard said.

“Basically, they were monsters, they were insects, they were . . . bloodsuckers, and so on.”

Koppe then asked Locard if he recognised the quotation: “We will continue to cleanse the virus from all state institutions, because this virus has spread. Unfortunately like a cancer, this virus has enveloped the state.”

Locard said while it was not a Democratic Kampuchea slogan published in his book, it was likely part of a speech by someone in a position of power. The comment, Koppe confirmed, came from Turkey’s Erdogan, who in the last two weeks has arrested thousands and vowed to purge state bodies following an attempted coup.

Koppe went on to question Locard’s previous use of psychiatric terms to describe his client. “When you’re saying that Nuon Chea is either schizophrenic, power-hungry or paranoid, that is just your personal opinion, correct?”

Locard said the diagnosis came from other academics, maintaining that he had never fallen prey to “confirmation bias” in his research nor sought to unfairly attribute extraneous crimes to the Khmer Rouge.

“I think the Khmer Rouge have committed enough crimes . . . I am always very angry when I hear they committed crimes they did not commit.”

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Famed US collector family return artefacts to Cambodia

    In the latest repatriation of ancient artefacts from the US, a total of 33 pieces of Khmer cultural heritage will soon return home, according to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. In a September 12 press statement, it said the US Attorney’s Office for the

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • CP denied registration documents by ministry

    The Ministry of Interior will not reissue registration documents to the Candlelight Party (CP). Following a September 21 meeting between ministry secretary of state Bun Honn and CP representatives, the ministry cited the fact that there is no relevant law which would authorise it to do

  • Ream base allegations must end, urges official

    A senior government official urges an end to the allegations and suspicions surrounding the development of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, now that Prime Minister Hun Manet has addressed the issue on the floor of the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78). Jean-Francois Tain, a geopolitical

  • Manet touches down in Beijing for high-level meetings

    Prime Minister Hun Manet arrived in Beijing on September 14 for his first official visit to China, where he is slated to attend the 20th China-ASEAN Expo and meet other leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Upon his arrival, Manet laid a wreath at the Monument