Chhouk Rin appeals life sentence

Chhouk Rin appeals life sentence

CAMBODIA: Former Khmer Rouge commander Chhouk Rin said on Sunday he had launched an appeal against his conviction and life sentence handed down for the 1994 abduction and murder of three Western backpackers.

"I asked my lawyer to fight this life sentence with the Supreme Court. I don't accept this sentence because I am not guilty. The sentence is an injustice to me," Chhouk Rin told AFP.

In September 2002, the appeals court reversed an earlier decision and sentenced Chhouk Rin in absentia to life imprisonment for the abduction-murder after he refused to appear at the trial.

However, his lawyers successfully argued there had not been enough time to prepare the case and won a full retrial in the same court, which last month reaffirmed the 2002 verdict.

Australian David Wilson, 29, Briton Mark Slater, 28, and French national Jean-Michel Braquet, 27, were abducted from the train traveling between Phnom Penh and the southern city of Sihanoukville.

Thirteen Cambodians also died in the attack and the Westerners were held for two months by Khmer Rouge rebels before ransom negotiations failed and they were killed, triggering a huge international outcry. -- AFP