AFP
PHNOM PENH - A KHMER Rouge leader's defence lawyer at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes trial said Thursday that confidential documents on an official's Leninist beliefs appeared to have been stolen from his office.
Michiel Pestman, the Dutch defence lawyer for the former regime's ideologue Nuon Chea, said he became aware of the 'security incident' Wednesday when he found four confidential papers from his office floating in a pond at the court.
'We have no explanation. What we do know is that the documents should have been shredded. They were not, and they were most probably stolen from our office,' Pestman told reporters. 'We have serious concerns about security and the confidentiality of our investigation,' he said.
Pestman said that he had notified the tribunal's security team so that they could conduct an investigation into the probable theft of the documents, which were drafts of a letter to a court official.
'There will be an investigation into the matter, but at this time it's premature to conclude that anything has been stolen,' tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen confirmed to AFP.
Pestman said the documents were drafts of a letter to the recently appointed head of the court's victims unit, Helen Jarvis, raising concerns about her membership of Australia's Leninist Party Faction (LPF).
Jarvis signed a 2006 LPF statement which proclaimed: 'Against the bourgeoisie and their state agencies we don't respect their laws and their fake moral principles.'
Pestman told reporters he was concerned that the statement indicated that Jarvis, who also serves as an ethics monitor at the court, might not follow Khmer Rouge tribunal regulations.
'We think that the victims unit should follow the rules, and if they don't follow the rules of procedure that could potentially affect the right to a fair trial of our client,' Pestman said.
Jarvis told AFP she did not wish to comment on the matter.
Michiel Pestman, the Dutch defence lawyer for the former regime's ideologue Nuon Chea, said he became aware of the 'security incident' Wednesday when he found four confidential papers from his office floating in a pond at the court.
'We have no explanation. What we do know is that the documents should have been shredded. They were not, and they were most probably stolen from our office,' Pestman told reporters. 'We have serious concerns about security and the confidentiality of our investigation,' he said.
Pestman said that he had notified the tribunal's security team so that they could conduct an investigation into the probable theft of the documents, which were drafts of a letter to a court official.
'There will be an investigation into the matter, but at this time it's premature to conclude that anything has been stolen,' tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen confirmed to AFP.
Pestman said the documents were drafts of a letter to the recently appointed head of the court's victims unit, Helen Jarvis, raising concerns about her membership of Australia's Leninist Party Faction (LPF).
Jarvis signed a 2006 LPF statement which proclaimed: 'Against the bourgeoisie and their state agencies we don't respect their laws and their fake moral principles.'
Pestman told reporters he was concerned that the statement indicated that Jarvis, who also serves as an ethics monitor at the court, might not follow Khmer Rouge tribunal regulations.
'We think that the victims unit should follow the rules, and if they don't follow the rules of procedure that could potentially affect the right to a fair trial of our client,' Pestman said.
Jarvis told AFP she did not wish to comment on the matter.
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