PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - International judges on the Khmer Rouge tribunal said on Monday they saw no more barriers to the start of the trial of Pol Pot's top henchmen after the Cambodian Bar Association cut fees for foreign lawyers.
"It was the only obstacle that remained and this has been solved," said French judge Marcel Lemonde in response to the CBA's offer to cut registration fees for foreign defense attorneys to $500 from $4,900.
"Now there is no reason why the process should not move ahead," he told Reuters.
Calling the CBA's initial registration fees excessive, the United Nations-backed international judges boycotted a full session of the court this week at which both sides were due to have agreed on the procedural nuts and bolts of the joint trial.
Court spokesman Reach Sambath said the Cambodian and international judges should now be able to convene towards the end of next month to sign off on the $53 million court's "rules."
Once the rules are agreed, prosecutors will be able to file initial cases against those they deem most responsible for the atrocities of the "Killing Fields," Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign of terror in which an estimated 1.7 million people died.
Likely defendants are "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, former President Khieu Samphan, and Duch, head of the Tuol Sleng interrogation and torture centre in Phnom Penh.
"Brother Number One" Pol Pot, presumed architect of the ultra-Maoist regime, died in 1998. His one-legged military chief Ta Mok -- dubbed "The Butcher" for his alleged role in mass internal purges -- died last year.
"It was the only obstacle that remained and this has been solved," said French judge Marcel Lemonde in response to the CBA's offer to cut registration fees for foreign defense attorneys to $500 from $4,900.
"Now there is no reason why the process should not move ahead," he told Reuters.
Calling the CBA's initial registration fees excessive, the United Nations-backed international judges boycotted a full session of the court this week at which both sides were due to have agreed on the procedural nuts and bolts of the joint trial.
Court spokesman Reach Sambath said the Cambodian and international judges should now be able to convene towards the end of next month to sign off on the $53 million court's "rules."
Once the rules are agreed, prosecutors will be able to file initial cases against those they deem most responsible for the atrocities of the "Killing Fields," Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign of terror in which an estimated 1.7 million people died.
Likely defendants are "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, former President Khieu Samphan, and Duch, head of the Tuol Sleng interrogation and torture centre in Phnom Penh.
"Brother Number One" Pol Pot, presumed architect of the ultra-Maoist regime, died in 1998. His one-legged military chief Ta Mok -- dubbed "The Butcher" for his alleged role in mass internal purges -- died last year.
8 comments:
It is a pleasant breakthrough, but it is not really like that because CPP government has prepared this trial to be procrastinated as long as:
- Khmer leaders will be died because when those are in court they will answer directly the involvement of King Sihanouk, Hun Sen and other CPP's cadres.
- CPP takes advantage their own legitimicy as well as popularity from January 7, 1979 as a pretext to frighten and increase votes from Cambodian people. When trial is done, this pretext will be useless.
KR trial will be continued to be procrastinated more by the CPP's intention....let see many obstacles will be put on the table through that unindependent court of Cambodia.
And after all that the verdict is
"NOT GUILTY", Mua hahahahahaha!!!
To 1:39AM!
There are mountain of evidence to convict all these motherfuckers!!!
Come on man! CPP have legitimicy as well as popularity from January 7, 1979??? ahahaahahhah
Who doesn't know that the CPP is a Vietcong slave puppet government installed by the Vietcong since 1979!!!Who doesn't know that the CPP staged a coup to take back their power in 1997 after losing the election!!!!aahahahh
You just bullshit yourself to sleep!!!!There are mountain of evidents to convict all the Vietcong slave and any Khmer Rouge leaders!!!!It is time to face justice and every man is for himself!!!!ahahahhahhahahhaha
Who care? Vietcong is our eternal
neighbor, they have done a great
job keeping us from falling apart.
Our failure is their failure, if
you know what I mean.
To 5:37 AM!
I care motherfucker!!!Taking the fucken Vietcong for a neighbor and who need an enemy!!!!ahahhahhahahah
The Vietcong will walk the failure path all alone and no Cambodian people would join it!!!!
Stop hallucinating, dude. The
Vietcong never fails.
5:37 AM Do Khmer look like a Vietcong to you motherfucker? Eternal fucking what, we not gay here. The fucking Vietcong rely on Cambodia and without Cambodia they eat their own shit no doubt about it.
LOL, Cambodia hardly exports
anything to Vietnam yet. That is
a hell of dependency, whouldn't you
say?
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