Angry calls for judge to be sacked

http://vimeo.com/14936602

Thursday 30th Jun, 2011
By Letitia Atkinson
letitia@thesun.co.nz
Source: http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/13923-angry-calls-judge-to-be-sacked.html

"With this document it’s clear Judge (Siegfried) Blunk has sunk the credibility of the court to a new low ... Clearly, he had no ethical or moral compass to guide him and, in my mind, has joined the ranks of the perpetrators themselves in terms of harm done to victims.”

A Bay of Plenty man is calling for a Cambodian judge to be ‘sacked’ after the judge rejected his testimony.

The testimony stated the grief he suffered from the murder of his brother by the Khmer Rouge regime.

Rob Hamill’s brother was tortured and murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in 1978, with legal proceedings underway for those believed responsible.

Released documents show attempts by the co-investigating judges (CIJs), You Bunleng and Siegfried Blunk, to exclude testimonial information of the Olympic rower from being considered as evidence in tribunal investigations.

“I have always believed the reasons outlined for my rejection to be civil party in case 003 confirm interference in the court process,” says Rob.

“The arguments are frail to the point of ludicrous.”

Case 003 refers to the case name of the court proceedings where the United Nations-led tribunal is investigating crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge during the period from 1975 to January in 1979.

“One could understand why the CIJs would want the document to be classified confidential, if only to save the embarrassment of their peers ever reading it,” he says, referring to the co-investigating judges’ rejection of his civil party application.

“With this document it’s clear Judge (Siegfried) Blunk has sunk the credibility of the court to a new low.

“Clearly, he had no ethical or moral compass to guide him and, in my mind, has joined the ranks of the perpetrators themselves in terms of harm done to victims.”

“I call for the UN to sack Judge Blunk and for cases 003 and 004 to be transferred to the Hague,” says Rob.

In a bid to promote the horrors that took place as a result of the regime, Rob has made a documentary called Brother Number One, which will be premiered at the New Zealand Film Festival in Auckland next month.

“It’s a very important story that needs to be told – more people know about Adolf Hitler than Pol Pot, yet this is recent regional history and one of our nationals was directly affected by the atrocities.”