Witness Testimony Ends as Duch Testifies for the Last Time

The court in the trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch) recalled Duch to the stand one final time to face questioning from the prosecution and the defense on the issue of his character. The prosecution attempted to portray Duch as a man who remained loyal to the Khmer Rouge until the bitter end while the defense focused on Duch’s apology to victims and his acknowledgement of guilt.

The prosecution characterized Duch as a man who was proud of his role at Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) because he had the opportunity to work with the highest echelon of the Khmer Rouge leadership. They argued that Duch executed his duties with great care and enthusiasm. They suggested that his work was primarily motivated by an underlying and genuine sense of loyalty to the Khmer Rouge regime. Duch responded that his work was motivated not by a sense of loyalty to the regime, but rather by a fear for his own safety. After seeing many people close to him implicated as enemies, he felt that his arrest was inevitable, and the only way to stay alive was to continue pleasing his superiors.

The prosecution also argued that Duch remained loyal to the Khmer Rouge up until his arrest in 1999 and did not accept his individual criminal responsibility until he first met his lawyers in 2007. They stressed the fact that he did not abandon the party after it was defeated on January 6, 1979. Duch admitted that he was a dedicated revolutionary at the start of the Khmer Rouge regime, but he argued that he began to lose faith in the party once he learned of its criminal nature. He was not able to leave the movement, he explained, because he continued to fear for his safety…

Read more: ctm_blog_9-16-2009