At Trial, Cambodian-American Coup Plotter Portrayed as Reckless

By Josh Gerstein

LOS ANGELES — A Cambodian-American tax preparer and self-described freedom fighter, Yasith Chhun, recklessly endangered the lives of civilians and his own followers when he launched a coup attempt in his homeland in 2000, a prosecutor told jurors during opening arguments yesterday at Mr. Chhun's trial in federal court here.

Mr. Chhun's defense replied that he was engaged in a noble, if naïve, attempt to free his countrymen from a despotic regime and that he had no desire to see anyone killed in the process.

"This accountant from the city of Long Beach decided he was going to take over a country," the prosecutor, Lamar Baker, said. "And he was willing to take lives in order to do so."

Mr. Chhun's attorney, Richard Callahan Jr., said the group, which called itself the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, had the laudable goal of removing what he called the "tyrannical regime" of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

"They attempted what they believed was a gallant effort to save Cambodia from the regime of Prime Minister Hun Sen," Mr. Callahan said. "These men put their lives on the line for the cause. ... The effort was misguided and naïve in its execution to be sure, but it was not misguided in its intent."

Mr. Callahan told jurors about the "killing fields" in which an estimated 1.7 million people died in the 1970s during the murderous regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. "Hun Sen had been a brigade commander under Pol Pot and unfortunately many of the same abuses continued under his reign," the defense attorney said. Mr. Callahan noted that in 1998, as the plans for the coup were being crafted, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for Mr. Hun Sen to be indicted under international law for a variety of human rights abuses, including attacks on political rallies and the killing of Cambodian opposition figures.

The defense lawyer said Mr. Chhun's contacts with American political leaders in Washington led him to believe America would back the putsch. "His CFF members also believed the U.S. would be there," Mr. Callahan said.

At the outset of his 35-minute argument, Mr. Baker showed jurors a photograph of a bloodied man sprawled on a sidewalk clutching what appeared to be a weapon. The prosecutor said the man was a private security guard at a gas station who was fired on with an AK-47 during the coup attempt and later had a grenade tossed at him by a member of Mr. Chhun's group.

Mr. Chhun, 52, faces charges of conspiracy to kill overseas, conspiracy to damage or destroy property in a foreign country, and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction outside America. He also is charged with violating the Neutrality Act, a law that dates to 1797 and bars private military expeditions against countries with which America is at peace. Each of the conspiracy counts carries a possible life sentence. Violation of the Neutrality Act carries a possible sentence of 25 years in prison.

In court filings, the prosecution argued that federal law prohibits privately launched military efforts in most circumstances because of the deleterious effects such missions can have on America's relations with other governments. However, Mr. Baker did not make such an argument to jurors yesterday, leaving it to them to speculate about the possible impact of Mr. Chhun's amateur war-making on America.

Mr. Baker did stress that much of the planning for the attack was done on American soil. "It was, as sometimes the labels or the commercials say, 'Made in the U.S.A.,'" he said.

During his 15-minute opening, Mr. Callahan disagreed. "There was actually very little connection to the United States," he told jurors.

Mr. Baker glossed over the manner in which Mr. Hun Sen "came to power." However, the prosecutor acknowledged, albeit briefly, that Cambodia suffers from poverty, corruption, and human rights violations.

"The defendant and his Cambodian Freedom Fighters thought they could solve all of Cambodia's problems if they could just take over the country," Mr. Baker said. The prosecutor also suggested twice that Mr. Chhun was a coward because he stayed behind when the attempted takeover was carried out. "The defendant's encouragement stopped at the Cambodia border. When it was time for Operation Volcano, he remained in Thailand," Mr. Baker said.

Mr. Callahan said military advisers told Mr. Chhun that he could jeopardize the security of the operation by going along.

Press reports from the scene in Phnom Penh said about six people were killed when the coup attempt was easily put down by Cambodian government forces on the morning of November 24, 2000. However, Mr. Baker told jurors yesterday that only three men died and that all of them were insurgents.

The prosecution's opening contained a contradiction of sorts. While the prosecution is contending that any attempt by an American to overthrow Cambodia's government by force is unlawful, Mr. Baker at times seemed to fault Mr. Chhun for failing to use enough force.

Ultimately, Mr. Chhun's guilt or innocence could hinge not on the coup attempt itself but on the smaller-scale "popcorn" attacks that the insurgent group allegedly carried out in the months leading up to the coup attempt. Mr. Baker said Mr. Chhun was willing to cause "injuries and death to others" in order to get publicity for the group.

While jurors may be reluctant to convict Mr. Chhun for leading an assault on the Cambodian government, they may be less willing to forgive the smaller attacks, which prosecutors said involved throwing grenades into coffee shops and karaoke bars where mostly civilians would be present.

The prosecution's first witness was an FBI agent who suggested that Mr. Chhun, who worked out of a small office in a strip mall, suffered from delusions of grandeur. "He said he would become the interim president of Cambodia until new elections could be held," the agent, Donald Shannon Jr., said. Mr. Shannon said Mr. Chhun made the statement in an interview several months after the November 2000 coup attempt.

While Mr. Chhun's openness at that time would seem to suggest he thought he had done nothing illegal, Mr. Shannon said the accountant sometimes switched words to make the attack sound less violent. The agent said Mr. Chhun talked of "attacks" on government officials in Cambodia, but would then say, "I mean 'arrest.'"