Trial day 21

Mr. Phneu Yav, 68, from Samraong commune, Tram Kok district, explained that in 1970 joined the revolutionary movement. He was questioned about the living conditions in the Samraong commune. He stated that communal eating started in 1975 along with the banning of private ownership and that people were categorized into three separate units. The witness said that in late 1976 he was given the responsibility to teach base people’s young children how to spell and read the Khmer alphabet.

Mr. Sao Han, 68, from Tram Kok district, told the Trial Chamber that after the fall of Phnom Penh, his brother, a former Lon Nol soldier,was arrested and taken away for re-education a few days after he had arrived in his native village in Tram Kok district. . Later on he learned from neighbours that his brother had been taken to Kraing Ta Chan detention centre and killed. He was questioned about the working and living conditions in the cooperative. Asked about Buddhism, he stated that he witnessed statues and books being taken away from pagodas and monks being defrocked.