Phnom Penh - The Christian minister who baptized Comrade Duch, not knowing he was the former head of the Khmer Rouge's S-21 execution centre, told a war crimes tribunal Tuesday that Duch's conversion from Buddhism was sincere rather than a pragmatic decision to gain forgiveness in this life.
'I am proud of him for his willingness to accept his crime and punishment,' Christopher LaPel told the court in Phnom Penh.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, is on trial for crimes against humanity and breaches of the Geneva Convention before the UN-Cambodian tribunal. At least 15,000 people were tortured and executed at S-21 in the 1970s. Just a handful survived the prison.
LaPel, a Cambodian-American, said he met Duch in Cambodia in 1995 and baptized him into his Protestant church two weeks later.
'I am proud of him for his willingness to accept his crime and punishment,' Christopher LaPel told the court in Phnom Penh.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, is on trial for crimes against humanity and breaches of the Geneva Convention before the UN-Cambodian tribunal. At least 15,000 people were tortured and executed at S-21 in the 1970s. Just a handful survived the prison.
LaPel, a Cambodian-American, said he met Duch in Cambodia in 1995 and baptized him into his Protestant church two weeks later.
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