Khmer Rouge 'first lady' discharged from Thai hospital

[webfact]

Khmer Rouge 'first lady' discharged from Thai hospital

PHNOM PENH, August 4, 2014 (AFP) - The former "first lady" of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime has been discharged from a Thai hospital after an improvement in her health, her lawyer said Monday.

Ieng Thirith, 82, returned to Cambodia last week, days before the UN-backed court which freed her delivers its verdict on the two most senior surviving members of the Khmer Rouge.

The case against Ieng Thirith was suspended after the court ruled dementia left her unfit to stand trial, releasing her from detention in September 2012 after around five years.

The widow of Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary -- and herself a social affairs minister under the regime -- had been hospitalised in Thailand since March.

Heart, urinary, and lung problems left her relying on a feeding tube and oxygen to survive, her son Ieng Vuth, the deputy governor of northwestern Pailin province -- a former Khmer Rouge stronghold -- said in May.

But on Monday her Cambodian lawyer said her health had slightly improved.

"She was discharged from the (Thai) hospital last week and is at her son's home in Pailin province," Phat Pouv Seang said.
"She is better now. She is breathing on her own, not by the machine anymore," he added.

The suspension of the case against Ieng Thirith, one of only a handful of people ever brought before a court over atrocities during the Khmer Rouge era, was a bitter blow to many who survived the regime, blamed for the deaths of up to two million people.

Her husband Ieng Sary died aged 87 in March last year while on trial for war crimes and genocide, cheating Cambodians of a verdict over his role in the regime's 1975-1979 reign of terror.

On Thursday the UN-backed tribunal will deliver its verdict on the first trial against "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, 88, and former head of state Khieu Samphan, 83.

The trial has been billed as a chance for reconciliation and as key to hopes for justice after more than 35 years.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge dismantled modern society and wiped out nearly a quarter of the population through starvation, overwork and execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia.

After its first trial in 2010 the court sentenced former S-21 prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, to 30 years in prison -- increased to life on appeal -- for overseeing the death of 15,000 people.

[afp]2014-08-04[/afp]

[bangrak]

Nothing about 'dementia' in the Thai hospital's discharge, nor in the reasons 'she' was hospitalised here in the first place... Might have been a 'diplomatic memory lapse'? And that the suckers from the UN-backed court have released 'her' and 'she's' out of the Thai hospital (incidentally, who paid for her 4months+ treatment?), 'she' feels fresh again and remembers everything, maybe with a smile... Did 'she' care whether the poor Khmers 'she' contributed to send to a certain death suffered from dementia? That's the weakness of western-inspired courts, they're like half-boiled eggs, hard or soft? The way attorneys can take those for a walk is frankly unbelievable, sorry, but good ethics have their limits, the last post when measures are asked to soften conditions for health, psychological, social reasons, should IMO always be: how was the suspect reacting to motivations of the same kind at the time he was supposedly committing the offenses which have brought him in front of this court? And this ... (can 'that' still be called a human being?) is, again IMO, abusing of the western civilisation's weakness, to 'happily' (I hope not!) spend the last years of her life with her dear son, who, mind you, though part of the Khmer Rouge to the tip of his nails, is deputy governor of Pailin province, what also tells a lot about the Hun Sen dictatory regime (is sonny Leng Vuth maybe important to the Sens...?). Excuse my ire, but I lost, many students- at the time, Khmer friends, all but one in fact, in those days of complete horror, and I, still, have more dark feelings for those bloodthirsty murderers, dead or alive (yes, you, commander Hun Sen), than for any other genocide accomplice, as, it were their blood own people they were killing, not even out of, despicable, racial hate... This was, and still is IMO, the summum of every, any, act of cruelty known in the history of mankind! Never forget, Thai people!

[Prbkk]

Thailand will be harshly judged by history for its complicity in the horror of the Khmer Rouge...sanctuary, supply of (china sourced) arms, diversion of international aid, unwillingness to permit international monitoring of refugee camps, words of praise from the military dictatorships and civilian governments in Thailand. Yes, those events are now decades old but Thailand should be reminded of its role. Certainly the Cambodians will not forget it any time soon.

[EricBerg]

It must be extremely harsh and bitter for many many Cambodian people knowing that another butcher goes free to spend the last period of life with family.

 

The slaughtering and torturing of the own people will have only very few precedents in history. Alzheimer or not. In an extreme case as this one other rules should apply: The death penalty. 

 

If captured back then, would Hitler have deserved to live on?

[NeilSA1]

I visited Cambodia last year and visited the killing fields at PP.  What an absolute tragedy.  

 

No super power was able to effectively assist Cambodia until the Khmer Rouge was ousted from power by a Vietnamese invasion. Its so amazing to think that the Vietnamese took up that challenge, although I understand that their actions were then considered suspicious by the super powers because the Vietnamese were communists. Hence the long delay in taking action against those KR members who were responsible for committing those atrocities. They should have already been severely punished 30 years ago, but it seems that certain members of the current government were then part of the KR.  

Edited August 4, 2014 by NeilSA1

[wiki12]

The Khmer Rouge were trained by SAS in Thai camps. Maggie (and of course Washington) knew about it too.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia

[tracker1]

The UN working at its usual pace SLOW !&it appears the relatives of previous Khmer Rouge still run the country.

[Baerboxer]

The Khmer Rouge were trained by SAS in Thai camps. Maggie (and of course Washington) knew about it too.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia

 

Of course we can believe everything and anything this criminal mass murderer says.

 

He wouldn't lie would he?

[Baerboxer]

The UN working at its usual pace SLOW !&it appears the relatives of previous Khmer Rouge still run the country.

Keep it all in the families!

 

 

And Hun Sen is the eternal brother of who? 

[Deacon Bell]

Thailand will be harshly judged by history for its complicity in the horror of the Khmer Rouge...sanctuary, supply of (china sourced) arms, diversion of international aid, unwillingness to permit international monitoring of refugee camps, words of praise from the military dictatorships and civilian governments in Thailand. Yes, those events are now decades old but Thailand should be reminded of its role. Certainly the Cambodians will not forget it any time soon.

 

1000's thrown off the cliffs near Phra Wihan by the xxxxxxxxxxxxx isn't in many history books.

 

Just like the 1000 men, women and children (Rohingya) towed out to sea in 2008 and set adrift to die without food or water.

[spidermike007]

It must be extremely harsh and bitter for many many Cambodian people knowing that another butcher goes free to spend the last period of life with family.

 

The slaughtering and torturing of the own people will have only very few precedents in history. Alzheimer or not. In an extreme case as this one other rules should apply: The death penalty. 

 

If captured back then, would Hitler have deserved to live on?

 

 

 

Especially when you have a butcher as prime minister of the country. He has been in power since just a few years after the pigs went down. And he has ruled as a strongman dictator ever since. He has gotten away with convincing the world the place is actually a democracy. And he has amassed billions in the process. Does anyone realize the kind of money he has made from evicting over 150,000 landowners, and selling their land? He and his top generals have all become billionaires from stolen land. And the UN, and the US, and Thailand, and nearly everyone else turns a blind eye to his mischief, even when he shoots demonstrators in cold blood. Nothing is done to this man. So, why would anything be done to the dragon queen who was just taken care of in Thailand? 

[rlopes]

Yet I see many TV members raving Cambodia a the next "paradise".

 

The place is still ran by the former Khmer Rouge and you will see these murderers on a daily basis if you decide to live there, even if you don't know who they are.

[wiki12]

 

The Khmer Rouge were trained by SAS in Thai camps. Maggie (and of course Washington) knew about it too.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia

 

Of course we can believe everything and anything this criminal mass murderer says.

 

He wouldn't lie would he?

 

 

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2014/04/how-thatcher-gave-pol-pot-hand

 

http://www.yale.edu/cgp/thailand_response.html

 

These are liars too?
 

[fab4]

 

The Khmer Rouge were trained by SAS in Thai camps. Maggie (and of course Washington) knew about it too.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia

 

Of course we can believe everything and anything this criminal mass murderer says.

 

He wouldn't lie would he?

 

 

OK, perhaps you'll believe John Pilger, or Simon O'Dwyer-Russell, a diplomatic and defence correspondent with close professional and family contacts with the SAS, or "Janes Defence Weekly" which say the same thing?

 

" http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2014/04/how-thatcher-gave-pol-pot-hand " refers.

 

wiki12 beat me to it.

Edited August 5, 2014 by fab4

[easton]

It is so unfair that many of the people associated with the Khmer Rouge have lived such long lives. 

[Cuchulainn]

..........Heart, urinary, and lung problems left her relying on a feeding tube and oxygen to survive..........

 

A luxury not afforded to those who were too weak to work from starvation & exhaustion and were sent away to the mass graves.  They were called "lazy".

[Cuchulainn]

Thailand will be harshly judged by history for its complicity in the horror of the Khmer Rouge...sanctuary, supply of (china sourced) arms, diversion of international aid, unwillingness to permit international monitoring of refugee camps, words of praise from the military dictatorships and civilian governments in Thailand. Yes, those events are now decades old but Thailand should be reminded of its role. Certainly the Cambodians will not forget it any time soon.

 

My God!! For once, we are batting for the same team! 

[HooHaa]

Yet I see many TV members raving Cambodia a the next "paradise".

 

The place is still ran by the former Khmer Rouge and you will see these murderers on a daily basis if you decide to live there, even if you don't know who they are.

 

 

its not too hard to figure out is it? 

 

pretty much anyone of a certain age who is not dead.

[The Deerhunter]

Nothing about 'dementia' in the Thai hospital's discharge, nor in the reasons 'she' was hospitalised here in the first place... Might have been a 'diplomatic memory lapse'? And that the suckers from the UN-backed court have released 'her' and 'she's' out of the Thai hospital (incidentally, who paid for her 4months+ treatment?), 'she' feels fresh again and remembers everything, maybe with a smile... Did 'she' care whether the poor Khmers 'she' contributed to send to a certain death suffered from dementia? That's the weakness of western-inspired courts, they're like half-boiled eggs, hard or soft? The way attorneys can take those for a walk is frankly unbelievable, sorry, but good ethics have their limits, the last post when measures are asked to soften conditions for health, psychological, social reasons, should IMO always be: how was the suspect reacting to motivations of the same kind at the time he was supposedly committing the offenses which have brought him in front of this court? And this ... (can 'that' still be called a human being?) is, again IMO, abusing of the western civilisation's weakness, to 'happily' (I hope not!) spend the last years of her life with her dear son, who, mind you, though part of the Khmer Rouge to the tip of his nails, is deputy governor of Pailin province, what also tells a lot about the Hun Sen dictatory regime (is sonny Leng Vuth maybe important to the Sens...?). Excuse my ire, but I lost, many students- at the time, Khmer friends, all but one in fact, in those days of complete horror, and I, still, have more dark feelings for those bloodthirsty murderers, dead or alive (yes, you, commander Hun Sen), than for any other genocide accomplice, as, it were their blood own people they were killing, not even out of, despicable, racial hate... This was, and still is IMO, the summum of every, any, act of cruelty known in the history of mankind! Never forget, Thai people!

I bought a great book in Seam Reap  airport several years ago, called ":Getting away with murder."   The United Nations at their worst. Threatening to reduce the foreign aid very year unless Hun Sen stopped his atrocities and then instead, INCREASING it every year.  Hun Sen was laughing all the way to the bank the whole time.  I have been to Cambodia 6 times (not visa runs) Another book worth reading is "The Lost Executioner."  This author actually went & tracked Duch down & interviewed him while the Cambodian authorities & the UN were still driving from restaurant to the Foreign Correspondents Club in their white Land Cruisers (looking for him.). 

[ratcatcher]

"The former "first lady" of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime has been discharged from a Thai hospital after an improvement in her health, her lawyer said Monday."

 

I hope the evil crone meets death soon. Too bad Thai medical skills were wasted on this oxygen thief.[attachment=278643:Ieng.jpg]