Landmark Khmer Rouge trial starts

News Resource BBC

The long-awaited UN-backed trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader in Cambodia has opened at a Phnom Penh court, 30 years after the murderous regime fell.

Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - was head of a notorious prison camp and is accused of presiding over the murder and torture of at least 15,000 inmates.

The trial is the result of a decade of painstaking and often ill-tempered negotiations, a BBC correspondent says.

People queued for hours to attend the hearing and see the ex-prison chief.

For the survivors, the opening day of the hearing offered the first opportunity to see a leading figure in the Khmer Rouge face justice.
 
Presiding judge Nil Nonn said the first hearing represented "the realisation of significant efforts to establish a fair and independent tribunal to try those in leadership positions and those most responsible for violations of Cambodian and international law".
But Francois Roux, for the defence, said it was "unacceptable" Duch had been held without trial for more than nine years.

The first days are mainly procedural, with witness testimony expected to be heard only during hearings next month, says the BBC's South East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head.

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