Warrant Issued for Former KR Chief’s Arrest

Chhouk Rin’s wife Yem Sav re­ceived a warrant for her ailing husband’s arrest Tuesday, she said by telephone Wednesday from Kam­pot province.

The former Khmer Rouge com­mander, convicted for his role in the deaths of three Wes­tern backpackers and 13 Cambo­dians following a 1994 Kampot province train hijacking, has not seen the warrant, which was de­livered by Kep municipal authorities, she said.

“He went to Phnom Penh to buy medicine and has not come back yet,” Yem Sav said. “I am wor­ried. I cannot say if he has fled or not.”

On Tuesday, however, Yem Sav said that Chhouk Rin was in Phnom Voar, watching cock fights.

Referring to a short stint that her husband spent in jail in 2000 be­­fore he was acquitted for his role in the deaths by Phnom Penh Mu­nicipal Court in July of that year, Yem Sav said: “He went to pri­­son before and it is hard to be imprisoned.”

That acquittal was later overturned, and the Supreme Court on Feb 16 upheld Chhouk Rin’s conviction and ordered him to be ar­rested and imprisoned for life.

Chhouk Rin told Agence France-Presse earlier this week that he will not make it easy for po­lice to ar­rest him.

“If police meet me, they can ar­rest me, but if they can’t see me, they can’t arrest me,” he told AFP.

Chhouk Rin wrote a letter ap­pealing to King Norodom Siha­mo­ni to pardon him, according to a copy of a letter obtained Tues­day.

In the letter, dated Feb 17, Chhouk Rin called the Supreme Court’s decision an injustice.

“I did not attack the train and kill the three Westerners,” Chhouk Rin wrote. “Only King Norodom Si­­­­­ha­moni can find justice for me.

“There are killers [of the Wes­terners] who are now still alive and should have been brought for questioning to prove if I was in­volved,” he added. “If the court [had] clear, new evidence and wit­nes­ses, I would not be afraid to accept the penalty.”