Ieng ThirithWritten by Cat Barton and Thet Sambath
The Phnom Penh Post
Former Khmer Rouge official Ieng Thirith’s deteriorating mental health threatens to disrupt an upcoming hearing before the ECCC, a lawyer for the regime’s former social affairs minister said, adding that he hopes an insanity plea will free his client from pre-trial detention.
Attorney Path Pov Seang told the Post on May 14 that he had Thai-language medical documents that clearly showed his client was not mentally able to appear in court.
Both Thirith and her husband, former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary, traveled frequently to Thailand for medical treatment before their arrest in November.
“If judges follow the law I hope [she will be released]. They can’t imprison a mentally ill person,” he said.
“I am worried that she will shout during hearing if she does not agree with something – I’ve told her, ‘Please do not shout during the hearing because you do not benefit from it and I am your lawyer, I will help defend you,’” he added.
Thirith is expected to appear before the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal on May 21 to plead for her freedom pending trial.
Family members who have visited her in court have also said Thirith is ill and should be released.
“She is sick therefore it is not easy for her to stay there,” said Seng Rorn, Thirith’s son-in-law. “It is the work of lawyer and judges to decide [if she will be released on bail] but she is a sick person.”
The likely insanity plea is the latest maneuver by defense lawyers, who in April halted proceedings during a detention hearing for Khieu Samphan, the former Khmer Rouge head of state, with a protest over the lack of translated documents.
At the time, Samphan’s French lawyer, the famed “Devil’s Advocate” Jacques Verges, demanded that thousands of pages of documents related to his client’s case be translated into French, one of the three languages used by the court.
This interruption has underscored the massive backlog of documents in need of translating, and more damagingly, the court’s inability to do so, according to Andre Sirois, an attorney-at-law and professional legal translator working at the ECCC.
“One can only be extremely worried at the sorry state of legal translation, and the translation and interpretation in general, at ECCC,” Sirois said in an undated memo to Michelle Lee, the UN’s top administrator at the court which was obtained by the Post on May 2.
The memo goes on to outline the court’s total lack of qualified legal translators, claiming that the tribunal’s French language website is riddled with errors which were “seriously damaging the image and credibility of the ECCC and its officers at least among the French speaking State Members of the UN.”
Documents are often so-badly translated that they should not be used in court, the memo states, saying, “The result is abysmal.”
Tribunal officials have acknowledged a translation backlog, but the court is seeking nearly $114 million in additional funds to greatly expand its ability to translate documents, they say.
Attorney Path Pov Seang told the Post on May 14 that he had Thai-language medical documents that clearly showed his client was not mentally able to appear in court.
Both Thirith and her husband, former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary, traveled frequently to Thailand for medical treatment before their arrest in November.
“If judges follow the law I hope [she will be released]. They can’t imprison a mentally ill person,” he said.
“I am worried that she will shout during hearing if she does not agree with something – I’ve told her, ‘Please do not shout during the hearing because you do not benefit from it and I am your lawyer, I will help defend you,’” he added.
Thirith is expected to appear before the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal on May 21 to plead for her freedom pending trial.
Family members who have visited her in court have also said Thirith is ill and should be released.
“She is sick therefore it is not easy for her to stay there,” said Seng Rorn, Thirith’s son-in-law. “It is the work of lawyer and judges to decide [if she will be released on bail] but she is a sick person.”
The likely insanity plea is the latest maneuver by defense lawyers, who in April halted proceedings during a detention hearing for Khieu Samphan, the former Khmer Rouge head of state, with a protest over the lack of translated documents.
At the time, Samphan’s French lawyer, the famed “Devil’s Advocate” Jacques Verges, demanded that thousands of pages of documents related to his client’s case be translated into French, one of the three languages used by the court.
This interruption has underscored the massive backlog of documents in need of translating, and more damagingly, the court’s inability to do so, according to Andre Sirois, an attorney-at-law and professional legal translator working at the ECCC.
“One can only be extremely worried at the sorry state of legal translation, and the translation and interpretation in general, at ECCC,” Sirois said in an undated memo to Michelle Lee, the UN’s top administrator at the court which was obtained by the Post on May 2.
The memo goes on to outline the court’s total lack of qualified legal translators, claiming that the tribunal’s French language website is riddled with errors which were “seriously damaging the image and credibility of the ECCC and its officers at least among the French speaking State Members of the UN.”
Documents are often so-badly translated that they should not be used in court, the memo states, saying, “The result is abysmal.”
Tribunal officials have acknowledged a translation backlog, but the court is seeking nearly $114 million in additional funds to greatly expand its ability to translate documents, they say.
8 comments:
CRAZY is an under statement Mr. Cat and Mr. Thet. How about PSYCHOPATH! This fat bitch stood by her man while he slaughter millions of innocent. This fat bitch is as guilty as her man.......
This ugly bitch is the main engine of killing field ,she worry too much about her pass action,she deserve to get the rope hanging on her neck like president Sadam Hussen of I raq
Hang dry this fat ass bitch and get over it !!!!!!!
2 million souls never get their day in court .
The face of an evil woman who has no remorse on the heinous crimes their Khmer Rouge clique perpertrated on the people and country of Cambodia.
And the evil husband looks also like a coward criminal who is now cornered by the truth and justice. Now they fake their health and sanity to gain pity. They are lucky to have this kind of both physical and mental being, the victims of their crimes had no chance.
I find it very disturbing to see this animal Ieng Thirith to wear this kind of clothe. She should have worn prison clothe ( to confirm that she is a confirm suspect of criminal ). Areak Prey
I suggest we bound this FAT ass HOE and her husband and shoot them.
This whore or duaghter of a bithch is going crasy? She deserves it! Go to hell Mee NGNENG Thiridh. You will be joined by A Kwak and Mee Kahing who had killed a lot of people including Piseth Pilika.
“If judges follow the law I hope [she will be released]. They can’t imprison a mentally ill person,” he said.
Judges will of course make their decision based on her medical condition. In any democratic country, if found that the peson has mental problem, then the would definitely have and pose some levels of risk to the community and therefore will automatically be placed in a mental insitute.
In her case, the judge might instrcuted that she will be remain in an institution managed and operated by ECCC.
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I find it very disturbing to see this animal Ieng Thirith to wear this kind of clothe. She should have worn prison clothe ( to confirm that she is a confirm suspect of criminal ).
Dear Areak Prey;
Strongly believed that in NZ, when police led a criminal to court even for a brief hearing, the person was given proper and appropriate dressing attire and not to appear in court in prison uniform at all.
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