Khmer Rouge Defectors Return to Countryside

Two former leaders of the Khmer Rouge headed back to an area controlled by former guerrillas today, but the Cambodian government denied it was letting men accused of genocide slip from its grasp.

Chan Kosal, police chief in the northwestern town of Battambang, said Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea left Battambang by military helicopter for the town of Pailin after six days of VIP treatment by the government, which angered human rights groups and many Cambodians.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the two were free to go because no warrant existed for their arrest.

“Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty,” he said. “We say they are free to go until they are summoned by a court. If the court does summon them and they don’t return, then they can be in contempt of court.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen, who drew fire last week for saying that a trial of Khmer Rouge leaders might not be in the national interest, said Friday that he supports a trial but it is up to the courts, not him, to decide when and how to bring a case.