Lawyers decry 'meddling' in Cambodia genocide trial

PHNOM PENH, October 24, 2011 (AFP) - Defence lawyers for a top Khmer Rouge leader accused of genocide asked a Phnom Penh court Monday to probe allegations of government interference at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal.

"Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea's international counsel said they filed a criminal complaint in Phnom Penh Municipal Court against Prime Minister Hun Sen and 10 other officials for interfering in the high-profile case.

"We are asking the deputy prosecutor to investigate the obstruction of justice in (this case)," Dutch lawyer Michiel Pestman told AFP.

"We want to make clear to everyone that what's going on is not only unacceptable, it's a crime even under Cambodian law."

The move comes as the tribunal is mired in controversy after a judge stepped down on October 9 saying political opposition to possible new cases linked to the 1975-79 regime effectively made his position untenable.

It was the first time a high-ranking court official publicly spoke out against long-standing allegations of political meddling at the court.

Phnom Penh has strongly denied interfering with the tribunal.

The shock resignation of German judge Siegfried Blunk prompted the UN to send top legal chief Patricia O'Brien to Phnom Penh last week, who urged the Cambodian government to "refrain from interfering in any way whatsoever with the judicial process."

In their complaint, Nuon Chea's lawyers, citing media reports, claim that government officials have pressured witnesses, opposed investigations into new cases and flouted summonses to give testimony.

Nuon Chea, seen as the communist movement's chief ideologue, and three co-defendants face an array of charges including crimes against humanity over the deaths of up to two million people.

Their long-awaited trial is set to hear opening statements on November 21. It is the court's second case after the conviction last year of a Khmer Rouge prison chief.

A third and fourth case are officially still under consideration but are widely expected to be dropped in the face of government objections.

Nuon Chea's lawyers said they felt forced to take their grievances to a national court after the Khmer Rouge tribunal ignored repeated requests to look into the interference allegations.

"It's our last chance to do something. We've exhausted other avenues," said Pestman.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities and abolished money and schools in a bid to create an agrarian utopia before they were ousted from the capital by Vietnamese forces.