Stedfortræderen Nuon Chea – eller “Broder Nummer To” – er blandt de Røde Khmer-ledere, der i disse dage stilles for en folkedrabsdomstol.
PHNOM PENH, 22 November 2011: Top Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea has defended his actions at a UN-backed court in Cambodia, on the second day of his genocide trial, BBC online reports Tuesday.
A prosecutor said he and his two co-defendants had “murdered, tortured and terrorised” their own people.
But Nuon Chea, Pol Pot’s deputy, said he had worked to “serve the interests of the nation” by protecting it from colonialism and invaders.
Nuon Chea, who was also known as Brother Number Two, is being tried alongside Khieu Samphan, the Maoist regime’s former head of state, and Ieng Sary, its former foreign minister.
Up to two million Cambodians died of starvation, overwork and execution during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule.
The regime wanted to create an ideal communist society by forcing city residents to work as peasants in the countryside, and by purging (udrense) intellectuals, middle class people and any supposed enemies of the state.
The Khmer Rouge was led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998. But prosecutor Andrew Cayley said the three defendants could not place all the blame at his door.
– These crimes were the result of an organised plan developed by the accused and other leaders and systematically implemented by the Khmer Rouge command, he told the BBC, adding:
– They cannot be blamed solely on Pol Pot as some of the accused may try, BBC online reports.
