Genocide suspect ill in prison

Genocide suspect ill in prison

CAMBODIA: Detained former Khmer Rouge military chief Ta Mok, a key suspect in a planned Cambodian genocide tribunal, was seriously ill on Tuesday at a military prison in Phnom Penh, his doctor and lawyer said.

They said prison medical staff were summoned after Ta Mok, 75, known as "the butcher", complained of a headache and dizziness.

Relatives and supporters of Ta Mok have threatened protests unless he is released from jail, a newspaper report said on Wednesday.

The Khmer-language Rasmey Kampuchea newspaper quoted Ta Mok's younger sister Chhin Koeun as saying that 1,000 people were prepared to march in support of her brother, who faces a trial for crimes against humanity.

Ta Mok and Kang Kek Ieu, better known as "Duch" when he was commandant of a notorious Khmer Rouge torture center, have been in detention for almost three years awaiting the formation of a tribunal to try leaders of the former Marxist regime. --Agencies