PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Pol Pot's right-hand man, Nuon Chea, appeared before Cambodia's "Killing Fields" tribunal on Thursday to request bail, arguing he was not a flight risk and would not try to influence potential witnesses.
The octogenarian former Khmer Rouge guerrilla, charged withwar crimes and crimes against humanity, also said fears for hissafety were overblown as he had been living for years in "peaceand harmony" at his home in the jungle along the Thai border.
"I have no desire to leave my beloved country," he told acourtroom packed with reporters. "No one is worried about mysecurity."
A previous bail hearing was adjourned on Monday becauseNuon Chea's Dutch defence lawyer, Michiel Pestman, did not turnup. Pestman was not at Thursday's hearing but sent a Dutchrepresentative, allowing proceedings to continue.
An estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died oftorture, disease or starvation under Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign ofterror as his dream of creating an agrarian peasant utopiadescended into the nightmare of the "Killing Fields".
Nuon Chea is accused of playing a central role in theatrocities and has been implicated directly in the massslaughter of regime opponents by Duch, head of Phnom Penh'sS-21, or Tuol Sleng, interrogation and torture centre.
Duch, who is also accused of atrocities, is expected to bea key witness at the $56 million (28.6 million pound) UnitedNations-backed tribunal.
The court is not expected to announce its decision forseveral days, but it is extremely unlikely that Nuon Chea willbe released.
(Reporting by Ek Madra; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing byMichael Battye and Sanjeev Miglani)
