Pailin Chief’s Claim Refutes Past Reports On Train Attacker
Nuon Paet, the former Khmer Rouge commander serving a life sentence for his involvement in the 1994 train ambush that led to the deaths of three foreigners, defected in 1996 when thousands of former rebels joined the government fold, Pailin Governor Y Chhien and others claim.
A letter signed and dated Sept 15 by Y Chhien, a former Khmer Rouge general, was submitted in defense of Nuon Paet for his appeals trial last week. The announcement of a verdict was postponed until Oct 4.
Y Chhien said Nuon Paet joined the government in the Ieng Sary-led defection that brought the fall of Khmer Rouge strongholds Pailin and Phnom Malai. After the defection, Nuon Paet led a quiet life, Y Chhien said.
Pailin’s first deputy governor Ieng Vuth, the son of former Khmer Rouge deputy premier Ieng Sary, also said Nuon Paet joined the government as a civilian.
“He became a simple person,” Ieng Vuth said. “He didn’t join the military.”
The news of Nuon Paet’s defection contradicts past reports that said he did not join the government, as did Chhouk Rin and Sam Bith, the two other former rebel commanders linked to the train ambush. Nuon Paet’s name wasn’t reported as one of the defectors at the time.
Meas Sophea, deputy commander-in-chief of RCAF, said Nuon Paet was not integrated into the government’s army, as were Sam Bith and Chhouk Rin, but he may have defected as a civilian.
“If he joined as a civilian, I wouldn’t know about this,” Meas Sophea said.
Khmer Rouge experts said they were not sure if Nuon Paet defected, but if he did, it wasn’t reported publicly.
“It may be that even though he defected, it wasn’t publicized because of what happened to the three foreigners in Kampot,” said Ok Serei Sopheak, co-chairman of the Cambodian Center for Conflict Resolution.
The three backpackers, Briton Mark Slater, Australian David Wilson, and Jean-Michel Braquet, of France, were executed after two months of being held captive in the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Phnom Voar. At least 13 Cambodians were also killed in the ambush in Kampot province.
A Western diplomat said it was irrelevant whether Nuon Paet, who was convicted in June 1999, defected and should not affect his case.
“Even if he did defect, it’s only because he was brought along with Ieng Sary,” the diplomat said. “Not because he said he was sorry for what he did.”
Put Theavy, one of Nuon Paet’s lawyer, said for the sake of national reconciliation, his client should be acquitted or his sentence should be reduced because he joined the government.
However, the issue of Nuon Paet’s defection wasn’t raised during the appeals trial because Y Chhien wasn’t present at the hearing, nor was it raised at his original trial.
Chhouk Rin and Sam Bith both defected to the government in well publicized accounts. Chhouk Rin became a colonel in the army after his defection in 1994 and Sam Bith a two-star general after he joined the government in 1996.
A municipal court judge found in July that Chhouk Rin could not be held responsible for his alleged role in the ambush, citing a law that gave former rebels who defected immunity for crimes committed during their years with the Khmer Rouge.
Yet Chakriya, deputy chief of prosecutors at municipal court, said the arrest warrant issued for Sam Bith has been withdrawn because Sam Bith’s lawyer argued that the court didn’t have enough evidence to pursue the warrant. Sam Bith had been called for questioning in the case in January, but did not show up.
