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by Ker Munthit, Associated Press

After Judge Tak Kim Sea declared Meas Minear and Kim Sen innocent, Amnesty International hailed the verdict as ``a major step forward'' for Cambodia's notoriously corrupt and backward courts.

The case had been closely watched to see whether Cambodia's courts will be able to withstand a much bigger challenge - a planned genocide tribunal for surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Chief prosecutor Chhun Ngorn told the judge in closing statements that no testimony from 21 witnesses in the three-day trial supported accusations that the rights workers organized or led the protest.

``Therefore, I ask the judge to drop all the charges against them,'' the prosecutor said.

Eight others charged with participating in the riot last December were also acquitted.

The defendants, who worked for a local human-rights group called Licadho, were arrested after a violent demonstration against the secret dumping of toxic waste from a plastics factory in Taiwan on the outskirts of Sihanoukville, a port 115 miles southwest of Phnom Penh.

The rights workers insisted that they had merely advised demonstrators of their rights while monitoring the protest, in which the customs offices and the home of the deputy governor were ransacked.

The violence was part of a panic that swept Sihanoukville after the death of a dock worker who handled the nearly 3,000 tons of toxic waste. At least four people died in accidents fleeing the town.

It marked the first time since U.N.-sponsored elections in 1993 that human rights investigators were arrested and tried for work-related activities.

International human rights groups and diplomats had closely watched the proceedings, fearing Cambodia had taken a step back just as its judiciary is preparing to take the global spotlight.

Cambodia and the United Nations are negotiating the formation of a tribunal to try leaders of the Khmer Rouge revolutionary movement, blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians in the late 1970s.

The plan calls for a trial in Cambodia's courts, with enough participation by foreign judges and prosecutors to meet international standards of justice.

Amnesty International representative Stephen Heder said the Sihanoukville proceedings proved that the courts can reach legitimate conclusions if held to proper standards.

``When a a rigorous defense is permitted, it is very difficult for the outcome to be one that is contrary to the truth,'' Heder said. ``We very much welcome this outcome. It is a positive sign.''

But the trial angered the deputy governor's attorney, Ka Savuth, who criticized police for being unable to support investigation reports that led to the arrest of the defendants.

``The most embarrassing thing is that at the trial, the authorities who produced that report failed to provide proof that Meas Minear, Kim Sen or anyone else was behind the demonstration,'' he said.