Asia
Cambodia
Torture
and death recounted at Cambodian trial - 14 July
For the past two weeks, judges and lawyers in the trial of a Khmer
Rouge prison chief have probed for details about the suffering of
victims of a regime that caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7
million people between 1975 and 1979. As personal stories of terror
and brutality fill the courtroom for the first time, even the
defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch, has at times dropped his
hard mask and broken down in tears. - New
York Times website
China
Former
Sinopec chief sentenced to death -1 5 July
The former chairman of Sinopec, the oil refiner that is one of China's
largest companies, was sentenced to death earlier today, becoming
the latest victim of a Government drive to stamp out corruption.
Chen Tonghai, 61, who was found guilty of accepting over $28 million
in bribes, was removed from the job two years ago. His sentence was
one of the harshest ever meted out by Chinese authorities although
he may be spared execution - usually administered in China with a
bullet to the back of the head - as the sentence was issued with a
two-year reprieve. The judgement from the Beijing No 2 Intermediate
People’s Court indicates that Mr Chen's sentence may be commuted
to life imprisonment after two years of good behaviour. - Times
Online website
India
Mumbai
gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab changes plea to guilty - 20 July
The lone surviving gunman from the Mumbai terror attacks has
admitted his role in a dramatic courtroom confession. Ajmal Amir
Kasab stood up during his trial at a special court set up to try him
today and addressed the judge. He said, "Sir, I plead guilty to
my crime". A total of 166 people were killed in the rampage by
10 gunmen in Mumbai, India's financial capital, that began on
November 26 and ended three days later with troops storming the Taj
Mahal Hotel where some of the terrorists were holed up. - Times
Online website
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