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PHNOM PENH: The former Khmer Rouge foreign minister appeared before the UN-backed Cambodian genocide court on Monday to appeal his detention, in a case that poses the first big test for the tribunal.
Ieng Sary, 82, is one of five top regime cadres currently detained for crimes allegedly committed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule over Cambodia.
The aged and sickly looking former leader, who has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, walked into court with a cane and needed the help of guards to sit in the dock.
The hearing was adjourned early in the afternoon until Tuesday after Ieng Sary and his lawyers said he was tired, dizzy and coughing.
A doctor confirmed to judges that Ieng Sary was unwell and said he was at risk of hypertension.
Ieng Sary told the court he did not wish to delay proceedings but wanted to participate in all hearings to be well-informed on his trial process.
"I can continue the sessions but am afraid that if I use too much energy today I will not be able to come tomorrow," Ieng Sary said.
Earlier in the day, one of the judges read out part of a pre-trial interview with investigators, in which Ieng Sary repeated his claims of innocence.
"I would like to know the truth about a dark period in our history. I do not know where the truth lies," Ieng Sary said in the statement.
"I am very happy that this court has been established because it will be an opportunity for me to discover the truth and also to share what I know," he added.
His lawyers argued to the panel of five judges that Ieng Sary should be released due to poor health, saying he could be placed under house arrest to ensure that he remains fit enough for a trial, expected to begin within a year.
Ieng Sary has been in hospital several times during his incarceration because of a heart condition.
The joint Cambodia-UN tribunal was established in 2006 after nearly a decade of haggling to try former Khmer Rouge officials for crimes committed during the murderous regime.
Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed, as the Khmer Rouge dismantled modern Cambodia after seizing control of the country.
Co-prosecutor Yet Chakriya accused the defence team on Monday of attempting to delay Ieng Sary's proceedings.
"Ieng Sary has been well checked by doctors. There is no report to prove that his health condition cannot allow him to participate in the hearing," the lawyer added.
Later in the week, Ieng Sary's lawyers are expected to argue that the charges should be dropped because he received a royal pardon in 1996 in return for surrendering to the government.
Resolving how to reconcile a past amnesty with the international court's authority will be one of the prickliest issues to faces the judges at the tribunal, which operates on a mixture of Cambodian and international law.
As the top Khmer Rouge diplomat, Ieng Sary was frequently the only point of contact between Cambodia's secretive communist rulers and the outside world.
He was also one of the biggest public supporters of the regime's mass purges, researchers say.
His wife Thirith, who also became a minister in the Khmer Rouge regime, was arrested with him in November.
Ieng Sary has suffered from deteriorating health since his arrest, according to his lawyer, highlighting the fragile condition of the tribunal's likely defendants, who are mostly in their 70s and 80s.
The other former leaders in jail awaiting trial are "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former head of state Khieu Samphan, and Kaing Guek Eav "Duch" who ran the S-21 torture centre in Phnom Penh.
Duch's trial is expected to begin in September.
Khmer Rouge head Pol Pot died in 1998.
- AFP/jk
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