PHNOM PENH - Much of the death and human destruction that took place under the Khmer Rouge was the result of a “chain of accusations,” a witness told the UN-backed tribunal Monday.
Suong Sikheoun, 75, a former deputy of protocol at the foreign ministry said a series of arrests came from one person accusing another, and another, and so on.
“That’s why there was destruction,” he said, testifying in the case against former regime leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary.
Close friends wound up in the notorious torture center of Tuol Sleng, he said.
At one point during his testimony, Suong Sikheoun turned to the three men on trial and apologized.
“It was not socialism, was neither communism nor a revolution to serve the citizens or nation,” he said of the failed regime. “I suffered very much.”
Suong Sikheoun, 75, a former deputy of protocol at the foreign ministry said a series of arrests came from one person accusing another, and another, and so on.
“That’s why there was destruction,” he said, testifying in the case against former regime leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary.
Close friends wound up in the notorious torture center of Tuol Sleng, he said.
At one point during his testimony, Suong Sikheoun turned to the three men on trial and apologized.
“It was not socialism, was neither communism nor a revolution to serve the citizens or nation,” he said of the failed regime. “I suffered very much.”
