By A.N.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Tola Ek
Click here to read the article in French
Following the criticism by Jacques Vergès, Khieu Samphan’s defense lawyer, on the low number of documents available in French, he went on to raise the murky allegations tainting the tribunal.
The dual was gently initiated by Jaques Vergès, when, at the end of the morning, getting out his relative indifference to the chamber debate, he addressed the court while reminding that: “We asked the judges to inform us about the current procedures on the corruption.”
Judge Rowan Downing immediately intervened before the French lawyer could go on further, and he asked him “not to raise new questions like [he used] to do” and to concentrate on the current topic, i.e. the appeal against the pre-trial detention of his client.
To this, Vergès replied in a tirade, using a quivering voice to feign his affectation, he said: “First of all, I will shut up because I don’t have to worry about your honor more so than you have to worry about yourself. I will shut up also because the head of state [Hun Sen] which hosts you publicly said that he wishes to see you gone, so this makes you squatters … Finally, I will shut up because the custom is not to shoot on the ambulances and the victims, and neither on the hearse cars and the dying people [i.e. the tribunal].”
Earlier, Silke Studzinsky, one of the lawyers for the civil party, received a short course from Judge Downing when she wanted to give some oral observations while claiming a “new argument.”
The problem was that Silke Studzinsky did not know or forgot that she must provide a notification of her intention to present observations.
The judge gently reminded her: “There must be a marked order so that nobody is taken by surprise, now you came without warning the other parties [to say] that you wish to give remarks, and they [other parties] have to prepare themselves to respond to them [but was not able to], so you cannot speak up.”
The dual was gently initiated by Jaques Vergès, when, at the end of the morning, getting out his relative indifference to the chamber debate, he addressed the court while reminding that: “We asked the judges to inform us about the current procedures on the corruption.”
Judge Rowan Downing immediately intervened before the French lawyer could go on further, and he asked him “not to raise new questions like [he used] to do” and to concentrate on the current topic, i.e. the appeal against the pre-trial detention of his client.
To this, Vergès replied in a tirade, using a quivering voice to feign his affectation, he said: “First of all, I will shut up because I don’t have to worry about your honor more so than you have to worry about yourself. I will shut up also because the head of state [Hun Sen] which hosts you publicly said that he wishes to see you gone, so this makes you squatters … Finally, I will shut up because the custom is not to shoot on the ambulances and the victims, and neither on the hearse cars and the dying people [i.e. the tribunal].”
Earlier, Silke Studzinsky, one of the lawyers for the civil party, received a short course from Judge Downing when she wanted to give some oral observations while claiming a “new argument.”
The problem was that Silke Studzinsky did not know or forgot that she must provide a notification of her intention to present observations.
The judge gently reminded her: “There must be a marked order so that nobody is taken by surprise, now you came without warning the other parties [to say] that you wish to give remarks, and they [other parties] have to prepare themselves to respond to them [but was not able to], so you cannot speak up.”
