Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Beijing in November. Hun Sen has warned against further prosecutions of Khmer Rouge officials. UPI/Jin Liwang/Pool | License Photo

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, March 27 (UPI) -- A U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal charged former Khmer Rouge official Ta An with crimes against humanity and premeditated murder, despite warnings from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen against the prosecution of additional suspects of the previous regime.

The Phnom Penh Post reported the Khmer Rouge's former deputy Central Zone secretary Ao An, also known as Ta An, is the second suspect in the court's case 004.


Internationally appointed judge Mark Harmon issued the charge, but his Cambodian counterpart You Bunleng did not support his motion. Less than a month ago, the tribunal had charged two Khmer Rouge leaders Im Chaem in case 004 and Meas Muth in case 003.

Ao An, or Ta An has been charged of premeditated homicide that violates a 1956 Cambodian penal code. He oversaw executions at Kok Pring, Toul Beng security center and Wat Au Trakuon security center, when Cambodia was known as Democratic Kampuchea. Other crimes Ao An is charged with includes murder, extermination, and persecution on political and religious grounds.

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The Phnom Penh Post reported Ta An denied any responsibility for the killings, and said he is not afraid to face the courts.

The international tribunals began in 2009, but Prime Minister Hun Sen is critical of the procedures. He has said Cambodia could sink into a "civil war" if more charges target former Khmer Rouge officials.

On Thursday Voice of America reported a memorial to those executed in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 was the subject of controversy. The memorial, dedicated to men, women and children who perished in a prison called S-21, were mostly Khmer Rouge members, or the initial perpetrators of the bloodshed that characterized the Pol Pot regime.

"It was just a spiritual memorial for all who died. But when you start to name and you start to inscript name, and you started to identify, then you create questions," the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia told Voice of America.