Cambodia's genocide tribunal postponed Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea's first public court hearing yesterday amid a row over his legal team, raising concerns for further delays to the UN-backed proceedings.
The tribunal was scheduled to hear an appeal against Nuon Chea's pre-trial detention.
But a key member of his defense, Dutch attorney Victor Koppe, has yet to be admitted to Cambodia's Bar Association, a requirement for foreign lawyers wishing to represent defendants in a tribunal.
"The pre-trial chamber decided to adjourn the hearing to a later date and ordered the lawyers of the charged person to submit a written report about the presence of the international lawyer," the judges said.
STANDARDS
Nuon Chea, the senior-most of the five Khmer Rouge cadres to be arrested so far, argued earlier in the day that going ahead without Koppe would violate international standards of justice.
"It is not consistent with international standards. I believe that if these proceedings go ahead, it is not fair to me," the 81-year-old regime ideologue told the judges.
Nuon Chea, who was Khmer Rouge supreme leader Pol Pot's closest deputy and the alleged architect of the regime's execution policies during its 1975 to 1979 rule, was arrested in September and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
No new date has been set for his appeal, the judges said.
"It's regrettable that it's been postponed," co-prosecutor Robert Petit said. "Any delay in this court is regrettable. Any delay in getting at the truth in this matter and justice for the victims is regrettable."
Had the hearing been held, it would have been only the second public hearing since the tribunal was convened 18 months ago.
"The delay does not satisfy us," said Cambodian villager Huy Chhum, one of hundreds of spectators who gathered in the courtroom to watch the hearing.
"So many delays will make villagers lose faith in the court and then it is meaningless," said Chhum, a 75-year-old whose wife, brother and son perished under the regime.
Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed by the Khmer Rouge, which dismantled modern Cambodian society in its effort to forge a radical agrarian utopia in what became one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.
CLOCK TICKING
All of the former Khmer Rouge leaders in custody are elderly and ill, and there are fears they could die before being put in the dock.
Cambodia's genocide tribunal was convened in 2006 after nearly a decade of fractious talks between the government and UN.
But it has been badly hampered by delays amid infighting among judges as well as attempts by the Cambodian Bar Association to assert its authority over foreign defense lawyers.
The conflict over Koppe arose last week when the bar refused to admit him after he signed a motion seeking the dismissal of one of the pre-trial chamber judges, Ney Thol.
In his motion, Koppe accused Ney Thol, president of Cambodia's military court, of being "neither independent nor impartial."
Bar officials said Koppe had signed the court documents before they swore him in, violating the rule that foreign lawyers wishing to represent tribunal defendants must be accepted by them before conducting court business.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS