Two days after French President Jacques Chirac told Prime Minister Hun Sen that he hoped for the capture and imprisonment of Chhouk Rin, the former Khmer Rouge commander’s son said Wednesday that Chhouk Rin is at his home in Kampot province.
Chhouk Rin was found guilty of taking part in the 1994 killings of French national Jean-Michel Braquet and two other Western backpackers who were taken hostage following a train hijacking and then executed in Kampot province’s Phnom Voar area.
Chhouk Rin was sentenced in absentia to life in prison in 2002, but has been on the run since the Supreme Court rejected his appeal in February.
“[Chhouk Rin] is sick at home. My mother is not at home. She went to Phnom Penh to buy medicine for him and herself,” said Chhouk Ra, who is around 10 years old, by telephone from Phnom Voar.
But Chhouk Korb, Chhouk Rin’s brother, denied the commander is at home. “I have no news from him,” he said, adding that police visit Chhouk Rin’s house from time to time searching for him.
In Chiva, deputy provincial police commissioner, said he did not believe Chhouk Rin was at home, and that his men were on the lookout in case he returned there.
“The family’s words are not reliable,” he said. “They only said what they wished to say.”
After the Supreme Court had rendered its decision, Chhouk Korb announced that Chhouk Rin had fled to the jungle. But reports have subsequently emerged that he is keeping a low profile at home or possibly hiding near the Thai border.
