PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A genocide tribunal in Cambodia Wednesday ordered more medical treatment for former Khmer Rouge figure Ieng Thirith to try to get her fit to stand trial.
The trial panel of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia had ordered Nov. 17 that the 79-year-old Thirith, who suffers from "a progressive, degenerative condition," be given her unconditional release and the proceedings against her be halted.
However, the United Nations said in a release the tribunal's Supreme Court chamber Wednesday granted an appeal from the prosecution and set aside the release order. The higher court said the trial chamber must do everything it can during the next six months to try to get Thirith fit to stand trial. She will remain in custody during that period.
"Such decision was adopted in the light of the possibility, albeit slight, of a meaningful improvement in the mental health of the accused which was foreseen by the medical experts appointed by the trial chamber," the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts in Cambodia said in a statement.
Four psychiatrists who examined Thirith in September diagnosed her with clinical dementia, most likely Alzheimer's.
The higher court directed that after she receives additional treatment at a hospital or other medical facility in Cambodia, she will be re-evaluated to determine if she is fit for trial.
Thirith, a former social affairs minister, was on trial -- along with her husband and former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, and fellow Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan -- for genocide and other crimes against humanity in the late 1970s.
