07 August 2007
By Sary Rath
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
One ECCC official indicated that the former KRouge leaders who face legal charges from the KR Tribunal (KRT), could be judged as a group, all at the same time.
The information on the method to sentence the former KRouge leaders who are responsible for the killing of almost 1.7 million people, is provided one week after the KRT incarcerated, for the very first time, Kaing Kek Iev also known as Duch, a former KRouge leader who was charged with crime against humanity.
Reach Sambath, spokesman for the KRT, told RFA on Monday 06 August that: “If they committed the same crime, the court could hold a common hearing, but if they commit different crimes, the court will consider their cases separately.”
Reach Sambath added that the method to hold the hearing will be announced in the future, however, the possibility of holding a group hearing sets a new precedence for an international criminal court system, and it will be very useful for a case such as the one in Cambodia.
Reach Sambath added: “The holding of a common hearing, if it can be done, it will save both time and money.”
Recently, the KRT announced that 5 suspects are facing charges. The KRT also announced that the first hearing will take place at the beginning of 2008.
Regarding the holding of a common hearing or not, Judge Marcel Lemonde said: “We need to hold a meeting first to decide about this method. Because we are still in the investigation stage, we cannot tell how we are going to proceed, and we cannot comment either.”
Lawyer Sok Sam Oeun, director of the legal aid group Cambodian Defenders Project, said that the current court system also holds common hearings, however, he said that such method create difficulties for the accused. “Therefore, in the mind of the judge, sometimes, if one of the defendants is bad, then when the judge looks at the others, he considers them bad as well.”
Regarding a common or separate judgment, Chang Youk, DC-Cam President, believes that: “The common judgment has good outcome historically, however, the individual judgment provides a legal certainty.”
Besides Duch, the former Tuol Sleng prison chief who is currently detained, the KRT did not announce the names of the other 4 KRouge leaders who were charged yet. Joseph Mussomeli, the US ambassador to Cambodia, expects that there will 12 former KRouge leaders who will be charged in the future.
The information on the method to sentence the former KRouge leaders who are responsible for the killing of almost 1.7 million people, is provided one week after the KRT incarcerated, for the very first time, Kaing Kek Iev also known as Duch, a former KRouge leader who was charged with crime against humanity.
Reach Sambath, spokesman for the KRT, told RFA on Monday 06 August that: “If they committed the same crime, the court could hold a common hearing, but if they commit different crimes, the court will consider their cases separately.”
Reach Sambath added that the method to hold the hearing will be announced in the future, however, the possibility of holding a group hearing sets a new precedence for an international criminal court system, and it will be very useful for a case such as the one in Cambodia.
Reach Sambath added: “The holding of a common hearing, if it can be done, it will save both time and money.”
Recently, the KRT announced that 5 suspects are facing charges. The KRT also announced that the first hearing will take place at the beginning of 2008.
Regarding the holding of a common hearing or not, Judge Marcel Lemonde said: “We need to hold a meeting first to decide about this method. Because we are still in the investigation stage, we cannot tell how we are going to proceed, and we cannot comment either.”
Lawyer Sok Sam Oeun, director of the legal aid group Cambodian Defenders Project, said that the current court system also holds common hearings, however, he said that such method create difficulties for the accused. “Therefore, in the mind of the judge, sometimes, if one of the defendants is bad, then when the judge looks at the others, he considers them bad as well.”
Regarding a common or separate judgment, Chang Youk, DC-Cam President, believes that: “The common judgment has good outcome historically, however, the individual judgment provides a legal certainty.”
Besides Duch, the former Tuol Sleng prison chief who is currently detained, the KRT did not announce the names of the other 4 KRouge leaders who were charged yet. Joseph Mussomeli, the US ambassador to Cambodia, expects that there will 12 former KRouge leaders who will be charged in the future.
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