Nuon Chea Hires Foreign Lawyer, Requests Pre-Trial Release

Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
18 October 2007

Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea has appointed a Dutch war crimes lawyer and requested his release ahead of an atrocity crimes trial, the tribunal courts said Thursday.

Lawyer Michiel Pestman studied law and political science and is on the list of Defense Counsel for the International Criminal Courts.

"I will do everything that I can to ensure that our client receives a fair trial. It is essential that he has a proper defense,"

Pestman said in the statement released by the tribunal. Pestman was a member of a team representing Bosnia and Herzegovina at the International Court of Justice on charges stemming from the Serbian genocide, according to the statement. He represented Sierra Leonian militia leader Moinina Fofana, who was found guilty of war crimes in August and sentenced to six years by a special court established for atrocity crimes.

The request for Nuon Chea's pre-trial release follows a similar request by Khmer Rouge cadre Duch, whose release hearing in November will be public in an effort to garner more civic participation in the trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders.

Brother No. 2 selects his foreign defense lawyer

Nuon Chea Selects Foreign Lawyer

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
10 October 2007

The Cambodian lawyer for Nuon Chea said Wednesday the detained Khmer Rouge ideologue had chosen foreign representation for his impending atrocity crimes trial.

Lawyer Son Arun said a Dutch attorney had been chosen, but he could not elaborate.

The bar associations of the UK and Netherlands declined to comment Wednesday, and calls to the Khmer Rouge tribunal's defense section were unsuccessful.

The selection of foreign representation is a significant step forward, as Nuon Chea, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, approaches trial.

Khieu Samphan, the nominal head of the Khmer Rouge, though not yet charged by the tribunal, has chosen a fiery French lawyer, Jacques Verges, who's know for grand gestures and sweeping counter-indictments of his clients' accusers.

The only other detained leader, Kaing Khek Iev, alias Duch, has chosen French lawyer Francois Roux, who represented US terror convict Zacarias Moussaoui and defendants before the international tribunal for Rwanda.

Meanwhile, Nuon Chea continues to read books on Buddhist philosophy and has access to a radio, listening, Son Arun said, to Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.

Nuon Chea’s wife could be authorized to visit her husband

Monday, October 8, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The KR Tribunal could authorize Nuon Chea’s wife to visit her husband who is currently detained by this tribunal. Son Arun, Nuon Chea’s lawyer, told RFA that the tribunal could authorize Nuon Chea’s wife to visit her husband on Monday, for about ½ hour to an hour. Son Arun said that Nuon Chea’s wife has traveled from Pailin to Phnom Penh already, in order to visit her husband. Nuon Chea was arrested a few weeks back, he was charged by the ECCC prosecutors of war crimes and crime against humanity. Currently, Nuon Chea is seeking another foreign lawyer to defend him, and according to Son Arun, 10 lawyers sent their applications to him, these lawyers called from France, England, Pakistan, Australia, and the USA. However, it is not yet known whom Nuon Chea will select as his second lawyer.