Prosecutors are appealing against the 30-year prison sentence handed to former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch and are seeking a longer jail term. The UN-backed war crimes court revealed today that prosecutors believe the judgement "gives insufficient weight to the gravity of Duch's crimes and his role and his willing participation in those crimes", the tribunal said in a statement. Also that "undue weight is placed on any mitigating circumstances applicable to Duch," it added.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was found guilty last month of war crimes and crimes against humanity. But many survivors and relatives of victims of the 1975-1979 regime were dismayed by the 30-year sentence, which also took into account the years Duch has served since his arrest, meaning he could walk free in about 19 years. *AFP