Wearing a white blouse and cardigan, the grey-haired, top-ranking woman leader in the Khmer Rouge sat steely-eyed as the court prosecutor described her reputation among survivors of Pol Pot's reign of terror.
Ieng Thirith 'could intimidate witnesses, enforce the rule of silence', senior assistant prosecutor Vincent de Wilde d'Estmael told the panel of Cambodian and international judges. Ieng Thirith, 76, and her 82-year-old husband, Ieng Sary, 'still enjoy substantial prestige with the ex-Khmer Rouge', he said, arguing against her lawyer's motion to release her.
The pre-trial hearing that began last week for the Iengs - the first 'genocide couple' to face war crimes charges - represents the latest chapter in attempts to prosecute the leaders of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. The couple is in custody with two other aged members of the Khmer Rouge hierarchy and one lower-ranking official who has admitted heading the infamous Tuol Sleng torture chamber in Phnom Penh that extracted 'confessions' from hundreds and dispatched them to killing fields in the countryside.
Ieng Sary is also seeking release. Because he received amnesty from the government 10 years ago, he claims he should not be charged. His hearing is set for June 30. At her hearing, Ieng Thirith answered a few formal questions from judges, describing her occupation as 'English professor', then turned the rest over to her lawyers to argue for her release.
Nearly 30 years after the end of the killing fields, the trial of the former Khmer Rouge leaders is taking longer and costing more than the organisers expected, and some wonder whether it's too late. The court fears the ageing leaders could die before the trials conclude. 'I don't want to say that, but it's pretty obvious,' said one official.
The court is worried about Ieng Sary and 82-year-old 'Brother No2' Nuon Chea, both of whom have heart problems. In March it paid for a foreign cardiologist to fly in to examine them. Khieu Samphan, 76, the Khmer Rouge head of state, was in the hospital while arrested in November and readmitted last week with high blood pressure.
