Cambodia's Khmer Rouge court finished hearing evidence against the regime's prison chief Kaing Guek Eav a.k.a. ‘Duch’ on Thursday. It ends six months of gruelling testimony about atrocities at the Tuol Sleng prison where up to 15,000 people died.
 

The UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) adjourned the trial of Duch until 23 November when the prosecution and defence are due to present their closing arguments. A verdict is expected early next year.
 

Fifty-five witnesses have been testifying since late March about Duch's role overseeing the torture and killing of thousands of people at the Tuol Sleng detention centre under the 1975-1979 communist regime.
 

Cooperating
During the trial, Duch (66) has repeatedly accepted responsibility for his role in governing the prison, and begged for forgiveness from victims and their families.
 

Sitting calmly in the dock, he has largely cooperated with the court, offering his comments as officials traced how he took part in the Khmer Rouge's rise to power, and then oversaw Tuol Sleng with brutal efficiency.
 

In his final testimony on Wednesday, Duch invited victims of the regime to visit him in detention. His defence team has indicated it thinks judges could be more lenient after his public displays of contrition and cooperation.
 

But as prison chief, the ever-meticulous Duch built up a huge archive of photos, confessions and other documents of evidence which prosecutors used to illustrate the final terrible months of thousands of inmates' lives.
 

Atrocities
Inmates had toenails and fingernails pulled out, had the blood drained from their bodies in primitive medical experiments and had electric shocks administered to their genitals, prosecutors and witnesses said.
 

Tuol Sleng workers testified that most prisoners were taken to a so-called "Killing Field" at Choeung Ek, near Phnom Penh, killed by a blow to the base of the neck with a steel club and then had their bellies sliced open.
 

Duch is the only one of the five former Khmer Rouge leaders, currently being held in the purpose-built jail at the war crimes court, to admit guilt for the atrocities committed by the regime. However, he denied several allegations that he personally tortured and killed prisoners, saying throughout proceedings that he feared for his life and his family, and acted under orders from superiors.
 

(AFA)
(Photo: Iris Smit)