It's Comrade Kheiu Samphan's turn in court to appeal his bail

A general view shows the courtroom during the bail appeal hearing of Khieu Samphan ,a former president during the Khmer Rouge regime, at the U.N. backed tribunal of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 12, 2010. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Khieu Samphan, a former president during the Khmer Rouge regime, stands in the dock during his bail appeal hearing of the U.N. backed tribunal at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 12, 2010. Khieu Samphan who is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Khieu Samphan, a former president during the Khmer Rouge regime, stands in the dock during his bail appeal hearing of the U.N. backed tribunal at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 12, 2010. Khieu Samphan who is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Khieu Samphan, a former president during the Khmer Rouge regime, sits in the dock during his bail appeal hearing of the U.N. backed tribunal at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh February 12, 2010. Khieu Samphan who is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Khmer Rouge Leader's Appeal Delayed By Lawyer No-Show

Friday February 27th, 2009

PHNOM PENH (AFP)--Cambodia's U.N.-backed war crimes court Friday delayed the Khmer Rouge head of state's appeal for release from jail after his famed lawyer Jacques Verges failed to appear at proceedings.

Khieu Samphan stood in court and said Verges hadn't traveled from Paris to attend his appeal ahead of the trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"In order to make sure that the pretrial chamber hears my comments fully according to the law, I would like to request that the pretrial chamber adjourn this meeting to a later date," Khieu Samphan said.

Frenchman Verges, who has acted for some of the world's most infamous figures including Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Venezuelan terrorist "Carlos the Jackal," is known for attempting to sew confusion in the courtroom.

After a short recess, Judge Prak Kimsan said the appeal would be adjourned until Apr. 3, noting that it was in Khieu Samphan's interest to deal with the matter as soon as possible.

During proceedings, co-defense lawyer Sa Sovan called the situation "unexpected" and said a relative of Verges had an emergency operation. But after the hearing he told reporters it was an important colleague in hospital.

"I actually think that Jacques Verges wanted to take part in proceedings," Sa Sovan said.

A fierce anti-colonialist, Verges, who was born in Thailand, reportedly befriended Khieu Samphan and other future Khmer Rouge leaders while at university in Paris in the 1950s.

Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork as the communist regime emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling the population to vast collective farms in its bid for a communist utopia.

The long-awaited first Khmer Rouge trial started last week when the regime's notorious prison chief, Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, went before the court.

The appeal for release from detention for former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary was also delayed this week until early April after his lawyers said he was to ill to attend proceedings.

KRT has not decided on Duch’s trial date yet

Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The KR Tribunal did not yet fix the schedule to try Kaing Kev Iev aka Duch, the former Tuol Sleng (S-21) jail chief, when Khieu Samphan’s lawyers are still appealing for his bail option and a court date for this appeal is now set to 27 Feb. Up until 23 Feb, the KRT has yet to fix the date for Duch’s hearing, however, it has fixed Khieu Samphan’s hearing date on his bail appeal following 8 months of detention and this detention was extended to 12 months. Sar Sovat, Khieu Samphan’s lawyer, told the Koh Santepheap newspaper over the phone on 23 Feb, that the court decided to translate a number of documents, but not all of them, after Jacques Verges, Khieu Samphan’s lawyer, asked the court to translate all 16,000 pages of the court documents from Khmer to French. On 26 Feb, the court also indicated that it will hold a hearing about Ieng Thirith’s bail appeal, and on 27 Feb, the KRT will hold a hearing on Khieu Samphan’s bail appeal.

Khieu Samphan's ECCC hearing video

58 minutes length

Cambodia's genocide tribunal expects investigation for first case to be completed by July

Friday, April 25, 2008
By KER MUNTHIT
Associated Press Writer

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Cambodia's genocide tribunal said Thursday it may complete an investigation of the first case against an indicted Khmer Rouge suspect by July.

The tribunal's investigation of Duch, the former chief of a torture center in Phnom Penh, could be followed by the start of his trial "at the beginning of the last quarter of 2008," said a tribunal statement.

Duch is one of five Khmer Rouge leaders indicted for the atrocities of Cambodia's 1970s "killing fields" regime.

The announcement came a day after it came under scathing criticism from a well-known French lawyer representing another defendant, former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan.

Jacques Verges, known for his provocative style and infamous clients, took center stage Wednesday at the tribunal, challenging its handling of the case.

The aggressive stance taken by Verges at an appeal by Khieu Samphan for release from pretrial detention augurs possible new hurdles for the tribunal, plagued over the past few years by political wrangling, corruption scandals and inadequate financing.

Conflict within the defense team surfaced Thursday when Khieu Samphan's other lawyer, Cambodian Say Bory, urged the Frenchman to tone down his approach.

"If he doesn't, it could be the end for him ... and then what would happen to the case?" Say Bory said. "I want this to move forward."

The long-delayed, U.N.-assisted tribunal seeks justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died from starvation, disease, overwork and execution as a result of the communist Khmer Rouge's radical attempt to build a classless society when it held power in 1975-79. Khieu Samphan has denied responsibility for the atrocities.

Verges has said he likes to employ what he calls a "rupture" strategy, questioning the legitimacy of the court and accusing it of being a tool of injustice.

On Wednesday he described the tribunal's case against Khieu Samphan as "invalid from the start."

The tribunal has charged Khieu Samphan with crimes against humanity and war crimes, detaining him since last November.

Wednesday's closed-door hearing on Khieu Samphan's appeal was abruptly adjourned when Verges refused to continue, protesting that the case file had not been translated into French, one of the tribunal's three officials languages along with English and Khmer.

One of the Cambodian prosecutors, Chea Leang, acknowledged to reporters that the tribunal is facing difficulty translating documents for all its cases into its three official languages.

But she said Verges' refusal to participate in the hearing was "unreasonable" because the proceedings were not part of the actual trial.

Many fear the Khmer Rouge's aging leaders could die before being brought to justice.

Former Khmer Rouge head of state faces public hearing

Apr 23, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

The former Khmer Rouge head of state has appeared for his first public hearing in Cambodia's genocide tribunal.

Khieu Samphan was detained by the UN-backed court in November on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He stood as prosecutors outlined the case against him, then the court went into a closed session.

Khieu Samphan is defended by French lawyer Jacques Verges.

A fierce anti-colonialist, Mr Verges reportedly befriended Khieu Samphan and other future Khmer Rouge leaders while at university in Paris in the 1950s.

He made his reputation by defending Nazi war criminal, Klaus Barbie, and Venezuelan terrorist, Carlos the Jackal.

Khieu Samphan has repeatedly denied involvement in the genocide of two million people by the Pol Potists.

Tribunal Delays Verdict on Khieu Samphan Appeal

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
23 April 2008

The Khmer Rouge tribunal delayed a decision on the pre-trial release of jailed leader Khieu Samphan Wednesday, after warning controversial lawyer Jacques Verges about his behavior, an official said.

Verges is a French lawyer known for his defense of notorious figures, support of anti-colonialist groups and friendship with Pol Pot.

Khieu Samphan, 76, was the nominal head of the Khmer Rouge and faces charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. He stood as he faced questions from Pre-Trial Chamber judges.

“I have had no job since leaving the jungle,” he said, an apparent reference to his life in Pailin following the collapse of the regime. “I have only my wife, who has struggled to feed me and my family.”

Lawyer slams 'illegal' detention of Khmer Rouge leader

French lawyer Jacques Verges answers questions after the hearing of former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan at the Extraodinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh. Verges said his client's denttion was "illegal". (AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan went before Cambodia's genocide tribunal for a pre-trial hearing Wednesday, where famed French lawyer Jacques Verges branded his detention "illegal."

The judges adjourned the hearing and warned Verges over his behaviour after he said he was unable to act for his client because court documents had not been translated.

The controversial Verges, who has defended some of the world's most infamous figures, told reporters he was "indignant" to discover 16,000 pages of court documents had not been translated into French, one of the court's three official languages, for Khieu Samphan's appeal against his detention without bail.

"His detention is illegal because it has been ordered from a file to which his lawyers did not have access," the lawyer, whose notorious clients have included Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Venezuelan terrorist "Carlos the Jackal," said after Khieu Samphan made his first public appearance before the UN-backed tribunal.

The judges said Verges and his Cambodian co-lawyer had given no indication of any such difficulties since filing their appeal on December 21, 2007, adding that all the relevant documents had been translated.

"As a consequence of the behaviour of the international co-lawyer advising with effectively no notice that he will not continue to act in this appeal within the circumstances mentioned above, a warning is given to him," they said in a statement on their decision to adjourn the proceedings to a date to be decided.

A fierce anti-colonialist, Verges, who was born in Thailand, reportedly befriended Khieu Samphan and other future Khmer Rouge leaders while at university in Paris in the 1950s.

Khieu Samphan, who was detained by the court in November on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, earlier listened stony-faced as head judge Prak Kimsan read out the background of the case against him.

He then told the court, which was set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity during their brutal 1975-1979 rule, that he had lived in poverty for the past 10 years.

"I have had no job since leaving the jungle. (I have) only my wife, who struggles to feed me and my family," Khieu Samphan said in Khmer, referring to his 1998 defection from the then-dying Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement based in the remote northwest.

Khieu Samphan, who court documents say is 76, was dressed in a light-grey shirt and trousers and spoke in a quiet, hoarse voice as he addressed the three Cambodian and two foreign judges, an AFP reporter at the court said.

According to the prosecution charges, Khieu Samphan aided and abetted the Khmer Rouge regime in policies which were "characterised by murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other inhumane acts."

Defence lawyers argue that Khieu Samphan had no real power under the regime and in appeal documents lodged in December they petitioned for a dismissal of the detention order "because Mr Khieu Samphan is not guilty."

"He was simply a head of state in name only," they said in the documents.

Khieu Samphan, the last of five top regime leaders to be arrested and detained by the tribunal, has never denied the bloodletting under the Khmer Rouge but has repeatedly denied his involvement in the atrocities.

Up to two million people are believed to have been executed or died of starvation and overwork as the communist regime emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia.

Cambodia's genocide tribunal convened in 2006 after nearly a decade of haggling between the government and the United Nations.

Attorney for Khmer Rouge head of state scolds judges

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Associated Press

"This is a scandal! ... This never happens except in dictatorships!" - Jacques Vergès, Khieu Samphan's defense lawyer

PHNOM PENH: The genocide tribunal in Cambodia abruptly adjourned a pretrial hearing for the former Khmer Rouge head of state Wednesday after his French attorney erupted at judges because the case file had not been translated into French.

The judges later said they would issue a warning to the lawyer, Jacques Vergès, for courtroom conduct causing the hearing's postponement.

Vergès, one of the lawyers representing Khieu Samphan, 76, in his appeal against pretrial detention, has earned notoriety with a client list that includes the former Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie, the Venezuelan terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal, the former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and the confessed serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

Vergès stormed out of the closed-door hearing Wednesday, telling reporters that judges had asked Khieu Samphan to find a new lawyer.

"French is an official language of the tribunal. There is not one page of the case file against Mr. Khieu Samphan translated into French," Vergès, speaking in French, told reporters. "I should be capable of knowing what my client is blamed for."

Vergès said he had told the tribunal that its failure to translate the thousands of pages in the case file rendered the proceedings "invalid," and that the tribunal had responded by asking Khieu Samphan to find a new lawyer.

"This is a scandal!" Verges said. "This never happens except in dictatorships!"

Vergès, 83, has known Khieu Samphan since both were active in left-wing student activities in Paris in the 1950s.

The tribunal has charged Khieu Samphan with crimes against humanity and war crimes committed while the Khmer Rouge held power in 1975-79. Approximately 1.7 million people are estimated to have died from starvation, disease, overwork or execution as a result of the regime's radical policies in trying to build a classless agrarian society.

The prosecutors' explanation of the hearing's adjournment was similar to that given by Vergès. "Jacques Vergès has chosen not to participate," said a co- prosecutor, Alexander Bates.

"The pretrial chamber's judges decided to remind" the defendant "that he was entitled to choose a lawyer - another lawyer but this one," Bates said.

Khieu Samphan has been detained by the tribunal since Nov. 19. He is one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders in custody.

Khmer Rouge leader seeks release

Khieu Samphan, detained in November, is accused of war crimes

Wednesday, 23 April 2008
BBC News

Former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan has made his first appearance at Cambodia's genocide tribunal.

He is seeking to be released from detention while waiting for the start of his trial, which is expected to take place later this year.

Khieu Samphan was arrested in November on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Khmer Rouge regime ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, and is blamed for up to two million deaths.

Khieu Samphan has never denied these deaths, but both he and his lawyers insist that, as head of state, he was never directly responsible.

One member of his defence team is the infamous French lawyer Jacques Verges, whose previous clients have included Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Venezuelan hijacker Carlos the Jackal.

Mr Verges, 83, has known Khieu Samphan, 76, since they were both involved in left-wing student activities in France in the 1950s.
Life of poverty

The defendant listened stony-faced as judge Prak Kimsan read out the case against him.

He confirmed his name, age and home town, and told the court he had lived a life of poverty after the Khmer Rouge regime was toppled.

"I have had no job since leaving the jungle. (I have) only my wife, who struggles to feed me and my family," he is reported as saying.

In its detention order, the prosecution alleged that Khieu Samphan "aided and abetted" the policies of the Khmer Rouge, which were "characterised by murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other inhumane acts".

Khieu Samphan's defence lawyers argued that he held "no real power" and was therefore not guilty of the crimes he was charged with, according to documents read out by Judge Prak Kimsan.

The court then went into a closed-door session.

The long-delayed UN-backed genocide tribunal is expected to hold its first trial later this year.

Those also facing charges include Nuon Chea, second-in-command of the late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot; the former foreign and social affairs ministers, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith; and Duch, who ran the notorious Tuol Sleng jail in Phnom Penh.

Under the Khmer Rouge, more than one million people died from starvation or overwork as leaders strove to create an agrarian utopia.

Hundreds of thousands of the educated middle-classes were tortured and executed in special centres.

Khmer Rouge founder Pol Pot died in 1998, and many fear that delays to the judicial process could mean that the Khmer Rouge's surviving leaders could die before being brought to justice.

KRouge leader appears in Cambodia genocide court

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — The former Khmer Rouge head of state appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal for his first hearing Wednesday, where famed French lawyer Jacques Verges will argue against his detention.

Khieu Samphan, who was detained by the UN-backed court in November on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, listened stony-faced as head judge Prak Kimsan read out the background of the case against him.

He stood as he was asked to confirm his name, age, hometown and job to the court, which was set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity during their brutal 1975-1979 rule.

"I have had no job since leaving the jungle. (I have) only my wife, who struggles to feed me and my family," Khieu Samphan said in Khmer, referring to his 1998 defection from the then-dying Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement based in the remote northwest.

Khieu Samphan, whom court documents say is 76, was dressed in a light-grey shirt and trousers and spoke in a quiet, hoarse voice as he addressed the three Cambodian and two foreign judges, an AFP reporter at the court said.

The court then went into a closed-door session.

Verges, who has defended some of the world's most notorious figures including Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Venezuelan terrorist "Carlos the Jackal," is expected to argue that his client should be freed on bail while awaiting trial.

A fierce anti-colonialist, Verges reportedly befriended Khieu Samphan and other future Khmer Rouge leaders while at university in Paris in the 1950s.

In documents submitted to the court at the time of Khieu Samphan's detention, the prosecution said releasing him on bail could provoke public anger, possibly putting the elderly defendant at risk of revenge attacks.

"There is a danger that he will flee, as he lives near the Thai border and now faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted," it said.

"If he remains at liberty, this could provoke the anger of victims and the public."

Defence lawyers, however, argued that Khieu Samphan had no real power under the regime and in appeal documents lodged in December they petitioned for a dismissal of the detention order "because Mr Khieu Samphan is not guilty."

"He was simply a head of state in name only," they said.

Khieu Samphan has never denied the bloodletting under the Khmer Rouge but the former head of state of Cambodia's radical communist government has never admitted to a role in the regime's excesses.

Up to two million people are believed to have been executed or died of starvation and overwork as the communist regime emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia.

Khieu Samphan, the last of five top regime leaders to be arrested and detained by the tribunal, has repeatedly denied his involvement in the atrocities.

Cambodia's genocide tribunal convened in 2006 after nearly a decade of haggling between the government and the United Nations.

Public trials of the leaders are expected to begin later this year, but there are fears that time is running out to try the ageing and ailing cadres.

Photos from Khieu Samphan's bail appeal hearing

Khieu Samphan, a former president during the Khmer Rouge regime, stands in the dock before Cambodia's genocide tribunal ruled on an appeal against his pre-trial detention, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh April 23, 2008. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Khieu Samphan, a former president during the Khmer Rouge regime, sits in the dock before Cambodia's genocide tribunal ruled on an appeal against his pre-trial detention, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh April 23, 2008. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Pring Samrang/Pool
Khieu Samphan, a former president during the Khmer Rouge regime, sits in the dock as Cambodia's genocide tribunal ruled on an appeal against his pre-trial detention, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh April 23, 2008. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Khieu Samphan, a former president during the Khmer Rouge regime, sits in the dock before Cambodia's genocide tribunal ruled on an appeal against his pre-trial detention, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh April 23, 2008. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
French lawyer, Jacques Verges, representing a former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samph, looks on during a hearing Wednesday, April 23, 2008, at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The former Khmer Rouge head of state appeared at Cambodia's U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal for a pretrial hearing Wednesday that marked the first courtroom appearance of his controversial French defense lawyer. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Public attendance at Khieu Samphan's bail hearing

Chum Mey, one of the few who survived imprisonment at the Khmer Rouge's Tuol Sleng prison, smiles before attending a U.N.-back genocide tribunal's ruling on an appeal against former Khmer Rouge president Khieu Samphan's pre-trial detention, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh April 23, 2008. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Locals and foreigners wait in line to attend Cambodia's genocide tribunal's ruling on former Khmer Rouge President Khieu Samphan's appeal against his pre-trial detention on the outskirts of Phnom Penh April 23, 2008. Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Ex-Khmer Rouge leader starts appeal

Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan is followed by journalists as he steps out of a hotel in Sihanoukville, south of Phnom Penh, back in December 1998 (Photo: Rob Elliott, AFP)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The former Khmer Rouge head of state was headed for Cambodia's U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal for a hearing Wednsday including the first courtroom appearance of his controversial French lawyer.

One of the lawyers representing Khieu Samphan, 76, in his appeal to be freed from pretrial detention is Jacques Verges, who has earned notoriety for having represented terrorists and a former Nazi officer accused of World War II atrocities, among other unpopular clients.

The tribunal has charged Khieu Samphan with crimes against humanity and war crimes committed when the communist Khmer Rouge held power in 1975-79.

Some 1.7 million people died from starvation, disease, overwork and execution as a result of the group's radical policies in trying to build a classless society.

None of the leadership of the now-defunct Khmer Rouge has been tried yet. The tribunal is expected to hold its first trial later this year.

Khieu Samphan has been detained by tribunal since Nov. 19, one of five senior leaders in its custody.

In its detention order, the tribunal's judges alleged that Khieu Samphan "aided and abetted" his regime's policies that were "characterized by murder, extermination, imprisonment, persecution on political grounds and other inhumane acts such as forcible transfers of the population, enslavement and forced labor."

But Khieu Samphan, in various public statements made before he was arrested, has blamed the late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot for the group's policies, including decisions to purge many Khmer Rouge cadres suspected to be disloyal or spies.

Verges, 83, has known Khieu Samphan since they were both active in left-wing student activities in Paris in the 1950s.

The flamboyant lawyer, who often uses his trials as a pulpit for expressing his radical viewpoints, is expected to use a more aggressive approach than other lawyers at the tribunal have so far employed.

He has previously defended clients such as Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal, confessed serial killer Charles Sobhraj and Nazi Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie.

Wednesday's hearing was to be closed to reporters and the public at the request of prosecutors. They objected to the possibility of Khieu Samphan's lawyers presenting arguments that related to evidence bearing on the charges against their client rather than the merits of his provisional detention. They did not elaborate.

On Tuesday, Khieu Samphan's Cambodian lawyer, Say Bory, called the tribunal's decision to hold the closed hearing "regrettable" because his client "desired to speak for the public to hear him."

Hearing of appeal by Khieu Samphan To be Conducted by Camera On April 23

Saturday, April 19, 2008
By Sopheap
Samleng Yuvachun Khmer
Unofficial Translation from Khmer by KRtrial.info

According to officials of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the Pre-Trial Chamber will hold the appeal hearing of Khieu Samphan in camera in the morning of April 23, 2008.

Dr. Say Borey, co-lawyer for Khieu Samphan, said that the appeal hearing of his client against the pre-trial detention will be held in camera soon. He has opposed conducting his client’s hearing in camera, but there have been no results. Therefore, the hearing will be held primarily in camera and then in public.

According to Dr. Say Borey, the coming hearing will discuss two main crimes—crimes against humanity and war crimes—committed between 1975 and 1979 that his client has been accused of. Khieu Samphan’s co-lawyers have insisted that the court show evidence of the crimes their client has been charged with. When the Khmer Rouge court has shown the evidence of the charges, the public hearing of Khieu Samphan against provisional detention will be conducted in public.

On March 3, 2008 the Pre-Trial Chamber rejected the request by the co-defense lawyers for Khieu Samphan, former Democratic Kampuchea head of state, for appeal hearing in public, and agreed with the Co-Prosecutors’ request for the hearing in camera and redaction of the defense's appeal brief, as those documents shall maintain confidentiality. Moreover, the appeal hearing is an important part of maintaining the sufficiency of the evidence and for a debate on the components in the case file.

The Pre-Trial Chamber decided on March 19, 2008 to schedule Khieu Samphan’s appeal hearing for April 23.

Khieu Samphan was arrested by the ECCC on September 19, 2007 on two main charges: crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Concerning the Khmer Rouge trial, the UN issued a statement on April 15, 2008 to request for a swift trial.

“I would like to remind the international community of the urgent importance of bringing to closure one of history’s darkest chapters,” the UN General-Secretary said in the statement.

The Secretary-General said it was his hope that the international community would support the ECCC and that the ECCC could soon deliver justice.