Ex-Khmer Rouge leader found guilty

A Cambodian court yesterday reversed an earlier acquittal and convicted a former Khmer Rouge leader of the 1994 murders of three western backpackers, including one Briton, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The victims - Mark Slater, 28, a factory worker from Corby, Northamptonshire, Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet, 27, and Australian David Wilson, 29 - were seized from a hijacked train on July 26, 1994, by troops commanded by retired Colonel Chhouk Rin.

The three were shot six weeks later, after demands for a $150,000 ransom went unanswered. Thirteen Cambodians also died in the incident.

The presiding judge at yesterday's appeal hearing, Somreth Sophal, said Chhouk Rin was culpable even though he was not present at either the hijacking or the killings.

The verdict is the third Chhouk Rin, 46, has heard relating to the backpackers' deaths. He was first convicted in 2000 and then acquitted two years later.

The appeal that culminated yesterday was filed by Jean-Claude Braquet, Jean-Michel's father. "We are delighted that the court has condemned Chhouk Rin to a deserved sentence," Mr Braquet said yesterday. "Our only regret is that it took eight years to get this sentence."

Britain's charge d'affaires in Cambodia, Ian Felton, said the British government was "obviously delighted" with the decision.

Chhouk Rin was not in court to hear the verdict, having dismissed the trial as a "political whitewash" designed to appease western governments. "I categorically do not recognise this verdict," he said from his home in Kampot province, 80 miles from Phnom Penh.

He has two months to appeal to the supreme court, during which time he is unlikely to be detained.

A former Khmer Rouge youth minister, Nuon Paet, was jailed for life in June in connection with the incident, and another Khmer Rouge leader, Sam Bith, was arrested in May and is awaiting trial for his alleged role in it.

Almost two million people were executed or died of starvation or disease while the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. After the communist group was ousted it continued to lead a guerrilla rebellion for more than 15 years.

Human rights activists hope the verdict will mark a turning point in Cambodia's commitment to bring senior Khmer Rouge leaders to justice. None have been tried for genocide, and negotiations between the United Nations and the prime minister, Hun Sen, have broken down.