Although a number of people in Pailin City have demanded that no trial be brought against the former Khmer Rouge leaders whom they consider their heroes, public opinion in most circles says, "That is just the voice of the minority among the great majority and it cannot stop the process of the Khmer Rouge trial court."

It was reported that a number of people who were breakaway Khmer Rouge elements who surrendered to the Hun Sen government in Pailin City have expressed their wishes to see none of the former Khmer Rouge leaders tried and none of them punished.  Moreover, these people in Pailin City also regard all these former Khmer Rouge leaders as their heroes. 

They emphatically note, "They are too old.  They should not be prosecuted because they are waiting only for their final days.  They are so old.  We Cambodians should forgive them."

Others say, "We do not want Uncle Khieu Samphan to be tried, for he would not have much time to live."

Former breakaway Khmer Rouge followers in O Ta Puk village, Tuol Lvea precinct, Pailin ward, Pailin City, have demanded that the UN-sponsored extraordinary chambers also find justice for the group of former Khmer Rouge leaders to whom they express profound gratitude and whom they call their elders.

The regime of Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 to 1979 was headed by several of these important leaders, such as former comrade Khieu Samphan as head of state, former comrade Nuon Chea as speaker of the People's Assembly, former comrade Ieng Sary as minister of foreign affairs, and top leader Pol Pot, who died in the jungle in 1998.

Innocent Cambodians who were victims of the Khmer Rouge and were separated from their loved ones because of the genocidal regime controlled by the Khmer Rouge are waiting for justice through the on-going process of court prosecution against the former Khmer Rouge leaders.

Unlike the people throughout the country who have been anxiously waiting for justice for nearly 30 years, those people who are former breakaway Khmer Rouge followers in Pailin, most of them former Khmer Rouge resistance fighters, have called for the cancellation of the trial against the Khmer Rouge leaders whom they consider innocent and regard as their heroes.

Nevertheless, former Brother No Two Nuon Chea recently said he acknowledged his shortcomings for failing to go down to the grass roots, thereby ignoring that that the local cadres had massacred innocent Cambodians.

Analysts say that the call for not condemning the former Khmer Rouge leaders is not surprising, and the Khmer Rouge trial court has already taken shape with the United Nations as its sponsor.  Moreover, no one believes that this call would start any social unrest because of the Khmer Rouge trial.

However, Forum-Asia, a regional human rights organization based in Bangkok, Thailand, noisily declared on Tuesday, 16 May, that the government's mishandling of the human rights activists and appointment of co-judges and co-prosecutors for the Khmer Rouge tribunal necessitated the intervention of Mrs. Louise Arbour, UN high commissioner for human rights, who then was paying a visit to Cambodia.

At the same time, Forum-Asia showed through its open letter that the coincidence of Mrs. Louise Arbour's visit to Cambodia was a blessing that could bring about a change for the improvement of past difficult situation.

Forum-Asia focused mainly on the independence and competence of the Cambodian judges and prosecutors for the Khmer Rouge tribunal.  Anselmo Lee, executive director of this organization, went on to say, "This issue should attract the special and urgent attention of Mrs. Louise Arbour because the Cambodian people have been waiting for justice for nearly 30 years. And the prolonged delay in bringing the former Khmer Rouge leaders to trial is unfair for the victims."

Based on this assumption, analysts conclude that the opposition to the trial of the former Khmer Rouge leaders just on the basis of their advanced age would not succeed.  And that is just a minority among the majority of views.