PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia’s United Nations-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal charged another suspect with crimes against humanity Friday, defying for the second time this month a warning from Prime Minister Hun Sen that adding more defendants could cause unrest.
The tribunal announced that an investigating judge filed charges against Aom An, a former Khmer Rouge district commander in central Cambodia. Earlier this month, the judge charged another district commander and the former Khmer Rouge navy chief with homicide and crimes against humanity.
The charges must be accepted by the court’s senior judges before the three can face trial.
Some 1.7 million people are estimated to have died from starvation, disease and execution due to the extremist policies of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979.
The tribunal said in a statement that Aom An was being charged with murder under Cambodian law and with crimes against humanity, including “murder, extermination, persecution on political and religious grounds, imprisonment, and other inhumane acts” committed in two prisons and at an execution site.
Hun Sen has repeatedly said that if the tribunal targets more defendants, it could incite former Khmer Rouge members to start a civil war. Few people share his belief, since the Khmer Rouge became a spent force almost two decades ago.