New judges at the KRT will face the same challenges as their predecessors who resigned

ចៅក្រម​ថ្មី​នៃសាលាក្តី​ខ្មែរក្រហម​នឹង​ប្រឈម​មុខ​ឧបសគ្គ​ដូច​ចៅក្រម​លាឈប់​

03.08.2012
by សុខ ខេមរា វី អូ​ អេ ខ្មែរ
(VOA Khmer)

Synopsis: Political analysts indicated that the same obstacles remain at the KR Tribunal in addition to opposition by the government, this in spite of nominations of new judges at the court. US Co-Investigation Judge Mark Harmon and reserved French Co-Investigation Judge Olivier Beauvallet were nominated in view of pursuing Cases 003 and 004 which the government opposes. Analysts have an array of questions for the new judges, as well as the legal aspect surrounding these cases. One question that comes up is the independence of the Co-Investigation Judge and political interference. Nushin Sarkati of the OSJI, an observer of the KRT, said that investigation into the additional cases must be conducted without government pressure in order to clear out the doubts and the perception of lack of independence of the KRT that linger among the victims and the public.

​​
វ៉ាស៊ីនតោន​៖ ក្រុមអ្នក​វិភាគ​នយោបាយ​បាន​បង្ហាញ​ពីឧបសគ្គ​ស្រដៀងគ្នា​ចំពោះ​ដំណើរការ​សំណុំ រឿង​ខ្មែរក្រហម​បន្ថែម​ដែល​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ជំទាស់​ ទោះបីជា​សហចៅក្រម​ស៊ើបអង្កេត​ ត្រូវ​តែងតាំង​រួច​ហើយក្តី។​

សហ​ចៅក្រម​ស៊ើបអង្កេត​ជនជាតិ​អាមេរិក​លោក​ ម៉ាក ហាម៉ុន ​(Mark Harmon ) និង​លោក​សហ​ចៅក្រម​ស៊ើបអង្កេតបម្រុង​ជាជន​ជាតិ​បារាំង​ អូលីវីយេ បូវ៉ាឡេត​ (Olivier Beauvallet )​ ត្រូវ​បាន​តែងតាំង​ក្នុង​គោលបំណង​បន្ត​ការ​ស៊ើបអង្កេត​សំណុំ​រឿង​០០៣​ និង០០៤​ដែល​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​បាន​ជំទាស់​នោះ។​ តែ​ក្រុម​អ្នកវិភាគ​បាន​ដាក់​សំណួរ​ជាច្រើន​សម្រាប់​សហ​ចៅក្រមថ្មី​ និង​សំណួរ​អំពី​ដំណើរការ​នីតិវិធី​នេះ​ ដោយ​បាន​និយាយ​ពី​ឧបសគ្គ​មួយ​ចំនួន​ទាក់ទង​នឹង​ឯករាជ្យភាព​របស់​ចៅក្រម​ក្នុង​ការ​ស៊ើបអង្កេត​ និង​ការ​ជ្រៀតជ្រែក​ផ្នែក​នយោបាយ។​

លោកស្រី​ នូស៊ីន ​សាការ៉ាទី ​(Nushin Sarkarati)​ ជំនួយ​ការ​ផ្នែកច្បាប់​នៃអង្គការ​ ច្បាប់​របស់​ស.រ.អា.​មួយ​ឈ្មោះ​ថា​ មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​សម្រាប់​យុត្តិធម៌​និង​ការទទួល​ ខុសត្រូវ​ដែល​ឃ្លាំមើល​ដំណើរការ​សាលាក្តី​ខ្មែរក្រហម​បាន​ថ្លែង​ថា​​ ការ​ស៊ើប អង្កេត​សំណុំ​រឿង​បន្ថែម​ត្រូវតែ​ធ្វើ​ឡើង​ដោយ​គ្មាន​សម្ពាធ​នយោបាយ​ពី រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ដើម្បី​ជម្រះ​មន្ទិល​សង្ស័យ​របស់​ជនរងគ្រោះ​ និង​សាធារណជន​ ដែល​មើល​ឃើញ​ថា​ សាលាក្តីនេះ​មិន​ឯករាជ្យ។​

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: ECCC's Journey

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Khmer Rouge lawyers consider quitting UN-backed court [-Smells like more of Hun Xen's travesty of justice at the KRT with the UN's blessing?]

Michiel Pestman and Andrew Ianuzzi - Nuon Chea's lawyers (Photo: RFI)

12 June 2012
AFP

Lawyers for a top Khmer Rouge leader on trial for atrocities said yesterday they were considering quitting Cambodia’s UN-backed court because government interference had tainted the proceedings.

The defence team for “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea said a guilty verdict against their client was a foregone conclusion because the trial was marred by “a lack of experienced judges and a lack of independence”. 

“We are seriously wondering why we’re here,” Michiel Pestman said, referring to himself and two other international co-lawyers defending Nuon Chea, the deputy leader of the brutal 1975-1979 regime.

“The outcome will be exactly what the government wants. If (prime minister) Hun Sen says my client is a genocidal killer, Cambodian judges know what to do,” the Dutchman said.

“The question is how long I feel my presence will be justified.”

Khmer Rouge judges rebuke premier for ‘killer’ remarks

18 May 2012
AFP

PHNOM PENH - Judges at a UN-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes court have rebuked Cambodia’s premier for branding one of the defendants a “killer”, in what observers said on Friday was their strongest warning yet against political interference.

But tribunal judges stopped short of taking action against Hun Sen, disappointing the defence team for “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea who said their client’s right to a fair trial had been violated. Hun Sen was quoted by Vietnamese media in January as saying that the testimony of Nuon Chea, accused of atrocities in the late 1970s, was “deceitful” and that the accused was a “killer and genocide (perpetrator)”.

“These remarks, if accurately reported, would constitute statements incompatible with the presumption of innocence,” the judges said in a decision published on the court’s website on Thursday.

KRouge judge says staff interfered with justice

05 May 2012
AFP

A judge at Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal on Friday accused several colleagues of interfering with controversial investigations into new cases, in a parting blow before leaving the country.

Swiss judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, who rocked the UN-backed war crimes court in March when he became the second judge to quit in protest at alleged political meddling, said in his last statement he had worked "in a highly hostile environment".

He said he had "reason to believe that several individuals, both current and former staff members... have interfered with the conduct of the investigation" and that he had reported them to the national courts.

Observers said it was unlikely the courts would do much about his complaint.

Alone to the end, Kasper-Ansermet makes KRT exit

THANK YOU!
Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet

Friday, 04 May 2012
Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post

Upon his arrival, he vowed to keep the public informed, and it is this very act that has caused so much trouble for international reserve co-investigating judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, who departs the Khmer Rouge tribunal today.

As one of his final judicial acts in his role – an authority many Cambodian court staff and government officials have refused to acknowledge – Kasper-Ansermet on Tuesday released detailed information about the crimes former military commanders Meas Muth and Sou Met are alleged to have committed during the Khmer Rouge regime.

As well as detailing the two Case 003 suspects’ responsibilities, the Swiss judge alludes to the types of crimes that may have been perpetrated by the two.

Like all judicial steps Kasper-Ansermet has taken in government-opposed cases 003 and 004, he acted alone in issuing the two decisions this week that will make it harder for the controversial cases to simply go away.

In the decisions, he also highlighted Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang’s disagreement to cases 003 and 004.

Press Release by the International Reserve Co-Investigating Judge

4 May 2012

PRESS RELEASE OF THE RESERVE INTERNATIONAL CO-INVESTIGATING JUDGE

Since he took office at the ECCC, the Reserve International Co-Investigating Judge, out of respect for the law and the victims, has focused all his energy to continuing the judicial investigation of the highly contentious Cases 003 and 004. In addition to conducting field investigations, the suspects were informed of their rights and were granted access to the case file. By way of a decision on the jurisdiction of the ECCC to continue Case 003, the facts under investigation were made public with a view to ensuring that the victims are properly informed and able to exercise their rights.

For reasons which are manifestly more political and financial than strictly judicial, the Reserve International Co-Investigating Judge – whose prerogatives were constantly called into question by his national counterpart for no material legal reason – found himself in a highly hostile environment and was severely impeded in the day-to-day performance of his duties, as a result of which he tendered his resignation to the United Nations Secretary General.

In light of the internal investigations into the violation of ECCC Internal Rule 35, the Reserve International Co-Investigating Judge has reason to believe that several individuals, both current and former staff members of the ECCC, have interfered with the conduct of the investigation in Case File 004. The Reserve International Co-Investigating Judge has therefore reported this to the criminal prosecution authorities of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Moreover, the Reserve International Co-Investigating Judge is of the view that the role played by the National Co-Investigating Judge as described in his Note of 21 March 2012 amounts to a serious interference with the conduct of the judicial investigation in Case Files 003 and 004. The Reserve International Co-Investigating Judge has therefore brought this matter to the attention of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Finally, the Reserve International Co-Investigating Judge hereby invites all the competent authorities of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the United Nations to take a clear and common stand concerning the future of Case Files 003 and 004 so as to restore the image and dignity of the ECCC and uphold international justice.

New KRT judges to be appointed

David Scheffer speaks during a press conference in Phnom Penh earlier this year. AFP PHOTO

Tuesday, 01 May 2012
Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post

The appointment process for two new international co-investigating judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal was moving forward swiftly, the UN secretary-general’s special expert said yesterday.

David Scheffer, who serves as special expert for the tribunal, told the Post the appointment process to re-staff the office investigating two government-opposed, Khmer Rouge-era cases was “well under way”.

“I anticipate further developments in early May,” Scheffer, the former US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, said via email.

Applicatio​n for Immediate Action Pursuant to Rule 35 by Nuon Chea's Lawyers

http://www.box.com/s/c05f2b4b56e67a999fb2

Ban Ki-moon should resign if Cases 003/004 will not go through - Op-Ed by Chhaya Khemarak

លោក​សម រង្ស៊ី​វាយប្រហារ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ចំពោះ​ដំណើរការ ​តុលាការ​ខ្មែរក្រហម

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uctJVVHMvw

ថ្ងៃ អង្គារ 17 មេសា 2012
ដោយ លាង ដឺលុច
Radio France Internationale

ដូច​រៀងរាល់​ឆ្នាំ គណបក្ស​សម រង្ស៊ី​បាន​រៀបចំ​ពិធី​រម្លឹក​វិញ្ញាណក្ខន្ធ​អ្នក​ស្លាប់​នៅក្នុង​របប​ខ្មែរក្រហម​ នៅ​ឯ​សារមន្ទីរ​ប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រ​ជើងឯក។ គឺ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ពិធី​បង្សុកូល​នេះ​ហើយ​ដែល​គណបក្ស​សម រង្ស៊ី​អាច​បញ្ចេញ​តួអង្គ​ប្រធាន​គណបក្ស​តាម​រយៈ​កញ្ចក់​វីដេអូ​ conference នៅ​ចំពោះ​មុខ​អ្នក​ចូលរួម​ជាច្រើន​រយ​នាក់។ លោក​សម រង្ស៊ី​បាន​និយាយ​រិះគន់​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ថា ធ្វើ​ជា​ឧបសគ្គ​ខ្ទាស់​មិន​អោយ​សាលាក្តី​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម​ដើរ​ទៅ​មុខ​តាម​អំណាច​របស់​ខ្លួន។

ប្រធាន​គណបក្ស​ប្រឆាំង គឺ​លោក​សម រង្ស៊ី​ បាន​ចេញ​មុខ​ថ្លែង​បរិហារ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ថា​បាន​ព្យាយាម​ធ្វើ​អោយ​ដំណើរ​ការ​សាលាក្តី​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម​មិនទៅ​មុខ​តាម​អំណាច​របស់​ខ្លួន​នោះ​ឡើយ។ ប្រធាន​គណបក្ស​ប្រឆាំង​បាន​ថ្លែង​យ៉ាង​នេះ​ កាល​ពី​ព្រឹក​ថ្ងៃ​អង្គារ​ទី​១៧​មេសា​នេះ តាម​រយៈ ​Video Conference នៅ​ក្នុង​ពិធី​បង្សុកូល​រំលឹក​វិញ្ញាណក្ខន្ធ​អ្នក​ស្លាប់​ក្នុង​របប​ខ្មែរក្រហម។ ពិធី​នេះ​ត្រូវ​បាន​រៀបចំ​ធ្វើ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ទីលាន​សារមន្ទីរ​ប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រ​ជើងឯក​ ជាយក្រុង​ភ្នំពេញ។

ថ្លែង​ពី​ទីក្រុង ​Montreal ប្រទេស​កាណាដា​មក លោក​សម រង្ស៊ី​និយាយ​បន្ទោស​ថា គឺ​មក​ពី​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​នេះ​ហើយ​ដែល​ធ្វើ​អោយ​យុត្តិធម៌​កាន់​តែ​នៅ​ឆ្ងាយ​ពី​ជន​រងគ្រោះ។ គឺ​មក​ពី​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​នេះ​ហើយ​ដែល​ធ្វើ​អោយ​ចៅក្រម​ស៊ើបអង្កេត​អន្តរជាតិ​លាលែង​ពី​ការងារ​ នៅ​ក្នុង​សាលាក្តី​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម​នេះ។ ចំពោះ​លោក​សម រង្ស៊ី រដ្ឋាភិបាល​មាន​ប្រយោជន៍​នឹង​រារាំង​ដំណើរការ​របស់​តុលាការ​កូនកាត់​នេះ ពីព្រោះ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​បារម្ភ​ខ្លាច​តុលាការ​អន្តរជាតិ​មួយ​នេះ​រក​ឃើញ​មាន​មន្ត្រី​របស់​ខ្លួន​ជាប់​ពាក់​ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ការ​កាប់​សម្លាប់​ប្រជាជន​ខ្មែរ​ ក្នុង​សម័យ​កម្ពុជា​ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ​នោះ។

Search on for new judges

Monday, 02 April 2012
Kristin Lynch and Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

Government officials refused to respond to the UN statement yesterday. Government spokesman Phay Siphan said “I have no business in this matter”, and referred all inquiries to Keo Remy, deputy president of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit, who hung up on a reporter and did not answer repeated phone calls after.

Citing “serious” concerns with the work of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, the United Nations said on Friday that it is in the process of selecting two international co-investigating judges to replace the ones who have resigned from the court, and urged the Cambodian government to offer them its “full cooperation”.

“Recent events at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia … have raised serious concerns about the ECCC judicial process in relation to Cases 003 and 004,” the statement, issued by the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, reads.

Less than two weeks ago, reserve international Co-Investigating Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet resigned amid what he said was persistent stonewalling by the Cambodian court staff of his efforts to investigate government-opposed cases 003 and 004.

And in October, Kasper-Ansermet’s predecessor, Siegfried Blunk, resigned citing government interference.

“The circumstances that have given rise to these two resignations remain worrying,” Ban’s statement says.

New judges [-Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the two resignations may be worrying, but your insistance to work with Hun Xen in a DEEP CONCERN!!!]

01 April 2012
Reuters

New York—U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced he would appoint two new judges for Cambodia’s troubled U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal and urged the government of the Southeast Asian nation to cooperate with them.Swiss judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet quit as reserve co-investigating judge of the tribunal earlier this month, while his predecessor, German judge Siegfried Blunk, left the post in October.Critics have accused Cambodia of trying to stop further probes of cases tied to the communist-inspired Khmer Rouge’s rule of the country between 1975 and 1979, in which as many as 2.2 million Cambodians were killed.”The circumstances that have given rise to these two resignations remain worrying,” Ban’s office said in a statement.The Cambodian government has issued no comment on the resignations. But Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself a former Khmer Rouge soldier, in 2010 told Ban that more indictments were “not allowed” and has also said he would be happy if the court left.Kasper-Ansermet had been pursuing two unidentified suspects in the highly controversial cases known as 003 and 004.”The Secretary-General believes that it is essential that the judicial process in relation to Cases 003 and 004 be brought back onto a positive course,” said Ban’s office, adding that he would appoint a new international co-investigating judge and a new reserve co-investigating judge for the U.N.-backed court.”Their selection by the Secretary-General will not by itself, however, fully address the concerns that have arisen in regard to the judicial process in these cases,” the statement said.

UN សាលាក្តី

On the replacement of the International Co-Investigating Judge for the KR Tribunal - Op-Ed by Pissed off

31 March 2012
Op-Ed by Pissed off

Mr. Ban needs to exert stronger and more pressure on PM Hun Sen to stay clear of and not interfere with the functioning of the ECCC first instead of wasting his time trying to find a new international co-investigation judge who will not be able to work with Mr. You Bun Leng who takes orders directly from the Cambodian government.

Mr. Ban needs to show leadership by demanding the respect of the independence of the ECCC. When that happens, money to finance the court's work will flow in.

Don't put a cart before a horse!

Mr. Ban also knows very well that the problem is not about the selection of the international co-investigation judge, but about whether to proceed to case 003 and 004. Thus, make up your mind, the UN!

A free advice to Mr. Ban: If you want a judge who can work well with Mr. You Bun Leng, appoint the one who does not want the court to proceed past case 002; otherwise, it won't work even though you appoint the judges from either China or Vietnam.

Pissed off

You Bunleng accused of serious violation, professional misconduct and breach

28 March 2012

PRESS RELEASE

BY THE INTERNATIONAL RESERVE CO-INVESTIGATING JUDGE

The International Reserve Co-Investigating Judge, Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, disputes all of the confused allegations contained in the press release dated 26 March 2012 by the National Co-Investigating Judge, You Bunleng.

The legal reasoning of Judge You Bunleng seems completely unfounded and, in particular, contrary to the “Opinion of Pre-Trial Chamber Judges Downing and Chung”, dated 10 February 2012, which gave detailed reasoning and specified that “Judge You errs in fact and in law in his understanding of the authority of a Reserve Co-Investigating Judge” (Case File No 003/16-12-2011-ECCC/PTC, p. 21). The obstruction that he has encouraged and openly admitted to in the conduct of investigations in cases 003 and 004 amounts to professional misconduct and is a breach of the Internal Rules, the Law and the Agreement.

An equally serious matter is Judge You Bunleng publicly naming one of the investigators in charge of several ongoing investigations. It must be noted that by publicly revealing the identity of an investigator which was immediately picked up by the local media (Cambodia Daily, 27 March 2012), and thus putting the investigator’s security at risk, Judge You Bunleng has seriously violated the duties of his judicial office and will be held responsible for his role in the matter should any incident arise in that respect.

The aforementioned security risk is all the more serious given the recent statement by Lieutenant General Mao Chandra to the press (The Phnom Penh Post, 28 March 2012) in which he states that « Our forces closely cooperate with the UN side on security issues, but we cannot send forces out into the field with UN- appointed investigators unless there is an agreement within the co-investigating judges », an agreement which he is fully aware cannot be reached at present.

Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet has grave concerns about the lack of security which has come to light and must seriously question whether, in the current circumstances, Article 24 of the “Agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia”, which states that “[th]e Royal Government of Cambodia shall take all effective and adequate actions which may be required to ensure the security, safety and protection of persons referred to in the present agreement. …” is being complied with.

UN Faces Tough Decision in Appointing New Judge: Analyst

Swiss investigating judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet announced his resignation last week, making him the second UN-appointed judge to vacate that post. (Photo: Courtesy of ECCC)

Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer | Washington

“If the UN appoints a judge to replace Kasper-Ansermet and [the new judge] still meets with obstruction, I think the UN should withdraw from the court completely.”

The resignation of a second investigating judge at the Khmer Rouge tribunal has put the United Nations at a crossroads, a leading rights advocate says.

The UN must now decide whether it will again replace the judge, who will face two cases that are opposed by senior government officials, or give up on the court altogether, Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told “Hello VOA” on Monday.

Swiss investigating judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet announced his resignation last week, making him the second UN-appointed judge to vacate that post.

The judge said he battled with obstruction from within his office and his Cambodian judicial counterpart, You Bunleng, as he tried to investigate two cases at the court that would require five more indictments of Khmer Rouge leaders.

Carr gives $1.6m to UN tribunal rocked by resignations

Meas Muth (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

March 28, 2012
Lindsay Murdoch
smh.com.au

THE Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, has pledged a further $1.61 million of taxpayers' money to a United Nations tribunal that is set to allow a Khmer Rouge commander who sent two Australians to their deaths to escape justice.

Senator Carr pledged the money days after the tribunal was rocked by the resignation of the Swiss judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, who had been blocked from pursuing prosecutions of former Khmer Rouge commanders, including Meas Muth, a former navy commander.

Meas Muth, now in his 70s, sent the yachtsmen Ronald Keith Dean and David Lloyd Scott to Cambodia's notorious Tuol Sleng interrogation centre where they were tortured and killed in 1978.

The straight path to TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE in Cambodia?

The Tortuous Path to Justice in Cambodia

March 27, 2012
By MARK MCDONALD
International Herald Tribune (Paris, France)

Nate Thayer, a journalist with deep knowledge of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge, also has a deep disdain for the tribunal, which he told me Tuesday was “an insidious, dangerous mockery of the rule of law that sets an unacceptable new model for legitimizing a 21st-century version of a Stalinist show trial.’’

“The only thing the U.N. and donor countries can do to put some faith back into those who had relied on the system of international law is to pull out now”

HONG KONG — To watch the court proceedings, to hear the lawyers’ objections, to sit through the delays and the quibbles and the endless parsing of words, it’s enough to make a good number of Cambodians want to simply unshackle the prisoners and set them free. Game over.

But these prisoners — they’re just three arrogant old men now — had once been the most senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge, the ruthless Communist regime that killed 1.7 million Cambodians. The court’s raison d’etre now seems to spin less and less around the horrors the men perpetrated and how much prison time they should serve; more to the point is how they are being judged by the United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh.

There has been an explosion of frustration over the tribunal in recent days, ever since another international investigating judge tendered his resignation. Laurent Kasper-Ansermet of Switzerland said the court is now “dysfunctional,” riven with petty intrigues and a political taint that keeps it from investigating well-documented crimes of well-known Khmer Rouge alumni who are living openly and freely in Cambodia.

Mr. Kaspar-Ansemet complained, for example, that a Cambodian fellow judge, You Bunleng, had questioned his authority and had blocked his access to cars and drivers. He said she would not let him use the court’s official seal to stamp legal documents. His resignation statement is here, although he was still at work on Tuesday.

Defence takes aim at KRT ‘interference’

Nuon Chea during the Trial Chamber's preliminary hearing on fitness to stand trial. Photo by Eccc/Pool

Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Phnom Penh Post

“There comes a point where silence and inaction and the deliberate avoidance of difficult decisions evolves into complicity.”

After holding his tongue during the morning session of the Khmer Rouge tribunal yesterday, Nuon Chea defence counsel Michiel Pestman said he was “forced” to speak out about alleged political interference in the court, as no other parties appeared willing to raise it.

Referring to the candid resignation letter tendered by UN-nominated reserve co-investigating judge Laurent Kas­per-Ansermet last week, Pestman said: “No organ in this court is immune from political meddling by the Cambodian government and . . . this Trial Chamber is no exception.”

Pestman announced he would again file a motion, as he did three times last year, for the Trial Chamber to investigate allegations of political interference in Case 002.

The three filings were rejected last September, and Pestman said he doubted a new filing would achieve a different result.

“Sadly, we do this knowing our motion will be rejected,” he said, appealing to the two international judges of the Trial Chamber, Silvia Cartwright and Jean-Marc Lavergne, to “save the case” by dissenting from their Cambodian colleagues and encouraging an investigation.