Court orders ailing Khmer Rouge defendant freed

The only female Khmer Rouge leader charged with genocide at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court is unfit to stand trial and should be freed from detention, judges said Thursday in a shock decision.
The announcement - just days before the tribunal was to hear opening statements in her trial with three co-accused - comes after experts diagnosed former social affairs minister and "First Lady" Ieng Thirith with dementia. The trial chamber "orders the release of the accused Ieng Thirith", the judges said in a ruling after finding her "unfit to stand trial".
Prosecutors have 24 hours to appeal against the decision. "Unless there is an appeal, she will be released as soon as possible," court spokesman Lars Olsen told AFP. Court appointed experts told the tribunal last month that Ieng Thirith, 79, suffers from memory loss and most likely has Alzheimer's disease.
They noted that she had trouble remembering her past and once even failed to recall the name of her husband and co-accused Ieng Sary, the regime's former foreign affairs minister. Ieng Thirith and three fellow senior regime members have been charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity over the deaths of up to two million people during the communist movement's 1975-1979 reign of terror.