Six decades after the Nuremberg trials, the name of Nazi cabinet minister Albert Speer is set to be resurrected here Wednesday as the chief jailer for Cambodia's Khmer Rouge will tell his own trial that he, like Mr. Speer, had no choice but to carry out the murderous orders of his bosses.
Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Comrade Duch, sat impassively in the dock Tuesday as prosecutors made their final arguments before a United Nations-assisted tribunal trying him for crimes against humanity, homicide and torture.
The prosecution reminded a panel of five judges how Comrade Duch had presided over the deaths of at least 12,273 inmates at the notorious S-21 prison in the centre of Phnom Penh while the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from mid-1975 to early 1979.
The defence will take its turn Wednesday, with Comrade Duch expected to apologize, as he has in the past, to the handful of survivors of S-21 as well as the families of his victims, and to plead for forgiveness. He has already admitted responsibility for what went on at S-21 prison, also known as Tuol Sleng, but denies he personally killed or tortured anyone.
The 67-year-old has told his lawyers that he would like to address the court himself for one to two hours Wednesday, after which his lawyers will make their closing arguments, which will include a comparison of Comrade Duch to Mr. Speer. As part of its presentation, the defence has submitted a copy of The Two Worlds of Albert Speer, a memoir by former Nuremburg prosecutor Henry King, to the court.
Mr. Speer was the only member of Adolf Hitler's inner circle to co-operate with the Nuremburg tribunal and give information to prosecutors. As a result of that co-operation, as well as his assertion that he was only carrying out his duties while serving as chief Nazi architect and Hitler's minister of armaments, Mr. Speer avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He died in 1981, 15 years after his release.
Similarly, Comrade Duch is the only senior member of the Khmer Rouge to co-operate with the tribunal known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Four other former high-ranking officials – including the former head of state, Khieu Samphan, and the regime's “Brother Number Two,” Nuon Chea – are due to stand trial within the next two years. All have refused to enter a plea or answer questions from prosecutors.
Anticipating Comrade Duch's defence, prosecutor Chea Leang gave him credit for co-operating but argued his crimes were so terrible that he should not be given any leniency. While Cambodia has no death penalty, she argued for an unspecified but “lengthy” prison term when the sentence is handed down some time next year.
“He was the personification of ruthless efficiency. He was totally indifferent to the suffering of the victims. He was the perfect candidate to run S-21,” she told the court. “The crimes of which he will stand convicted are of such an extreme seriousness and were committed against so many people that it is inconceivable that anything other than a lengthy sentence of imprisonment should be imposed upon him.”
During her five-plus hour summation of the prosecution's case, Ms. Chea attacked Comrade Duch's claim that he was just a cog in the Khmer Rouge machinery who would have been killed along with his family if he hadn't acted as he did. She portrayed him as having direct access to the country's leadership, and final say over who lived and who died at S-21. “The accused was one of the most significant, if not the most significant, individual in [the Khmer Rouge]'s security apparatus. It is clear that secrets were not kept from him,” she said.
