JURIST - Paper Chase: Cambodian PM opposes private funds for Khmer Rouge genocide trial

[JURIST] Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen [Wikipedia profile], a former Khmer Rouge soldier, responded to an opposition proposal Wednesday by saying that the families of the 1.7 million victims of the hardline communist Khmer Rouge [Wikipedia backgrounder] regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 should not be paying for genocide trials [JURIST news archives]. Members of the Sam Rainsy Party [party website] had proposed using private donations [JURIST report] to help offset the more than $10 million deficit in the projected $56.3 million budget required to try surviving Khmer Rouge leaders. The UN has pledged $38 million for the court, while the impoverished nation of Cambodia can only afford to pay just over $1 million. Critics suggest that Hun Sen does not want to trials to go ahead, although it's clear that he himself had no role in any Khmer Rouge atrocities. Reuters has more.

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