Former Khmer Rouge minister loses bail appeal

Phnom Penh - Former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Thirith Wednesday lost her appeal against pre-trial detention at the joint UN-Cambodian court set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders. Thirith, 76, had appealed on grounds of mental and physical ill health on May 21, but Judge Prak Kimsan said the court was unanimous that these were not sufficient grounds to release her. "The Pre-Trial Chamber, in a unanimous decision announced this morning, has dismissed the appeal against provisional detention by Ieng Thirith," the court said in a statement. Thirith's husband, former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary, is also appealing his detention by the court and a date for that decision is yet to be announced. Thirith is also the sister-in-law of the late movement's leader, Pol Pot. Pol Pot died in 1998. She has denied the charges of... [read full story]