Trial opens in coup attempt

A native of Cambodia unleashed an attack to overthrow the government of that country, but the plot failed when only 200 supporters showed up to fight in the capital city of Phnom Phen, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

In his opening trial statement, Assistant U.S. Atty. Lamar Baker said defendant Yasith Chhun -- a Long Beach accountant -- was willing to risk other people’s lives as part of the effort in 2000 dubbed “Operation Volcano.”

Baker portrayed Chhun, 52, as callous, cowardly and incompetent and promised he would take jurors inside the conspiracy with testimony from officers who led the attack and are now serving prison terms in Cambodia for their involvement. “Operation Volcano was a failure; it didn’t succeed,” he said.

Defense attorney Richard Callahan said his client, a U.S. citizen, was trying to save the country where he was born and raised.

“There was no intent for Mr. Chhun to murder anyone or injure anyone,” said Callahan, who added that the attack was “misguided and naive.”

Chhun has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy to damage or destroy property in a foreign country, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States, and engaging in a military expedition against a nation with which the United States is at peace.

He could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.