TopNews.in
Thu, 12/04/2008
Phnom Penh - A former leader of Cambodia's genocidal Khmer Rogue regime told a war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh Thursday he could not understand why he was facing charges of crimes against humanity, saying he had "always acted in the best interests of the Cambodian people."
Khieu Samphan said in his closing statement to a heated pre-trial hearing of the UN-backed Khmer Rogue Tribunal he was innocent of all charges and there was insufficient evidence to support his detention.
"I do not understand why I am being charged for crimes against humanity and I do not know why I am being told there are so many documents that implicate me," he said.
The 77-year-old former head-of-state is one of six former leaders facing trial for their roles in the death of up to two million people though execution, starvation or exhaustion during the Khmer Rogue's rule between 1975 and 1979.
During the hearing Khieu Samphan's lawyers appealed a previous court order not to translate more than 60,000 pages of documentary evidence into French - the native language of one his defense councilors, the controversial French lawyer Jacques Verges.
"If my lawyers had been able to understand these documents then my detention may not have been extended," said Khieu Samphan, who has already served one year in detention but has not yet been indicted by the tribunal.
The court extended his detention for an additional year in November.
Verges, who has previously represented Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and terrorist Ramirez Sanchez (aka Carlos the Jackal), argued the court's decision had jeopardized his client's right to a fair trial and called for Khieu Samphan to be released.
"[The co-prosecutors] said we were given translations of the submissions. This is a lie. We received introductory submissions but three months late. We have not yet received supplementary submissions," he said.
"The prosecution is mocking me, but I am wearing robes that give me dignity, not the slippers of a servant. I will return to France with dignity and be applauded when I arrive," he added.
But prosecutors argued the decision complied with the rules of the tribunal, which they said did not require all documents to be translated into the court's three working languages - French, English and Khmer.
"As long as the accused person can understand the documents it is not necessary for them to be translated into the native languages of his council," co-prosecutor William Smith said.
The court adjourned and a date for a ruling on the appeal will be set, but the defence team continued its argument at a media conference outside the court chamber.
An animated Verges described the court's failure to translate the documents as an "injustice," before challenging the prosecutors - who were present at the conference venue - to a debate over the trial in front of the media.
"We are here to defend his honour, but I am told we cannot because translating these documents is too expensive. If it cost one dollar to translate each document it would only cost 30,000 dollars to do. There is a huge difference between this amount and the 5 million dollars France has donated to the tribunal. Where has this money gone?" Verges said.
A brief shouting match also broke out during the conference between Cambodian co-defence lawyer Sa Sovan and representatives of Khmer Rouge victims.
The Khmer Rogue Tribunal was established in 2006 after a decade of negotiations between the UN and the Cambodian government and the first trial is due to begin in January 2009. (dpa)
Thu, 12/04/2008
Phnom Penh - A former leader of Cambodia's genocidal Khmer Rogue regime told a war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh Thursday he could not understand why he was facing charges of crimes against humanity, saying he had "always acted in the best interests of the Cambodian people."
Khieu Samphan said in his closing statement to a heated pre-trial hearing of the UN-backed Khmer Rogue Tribunal he was innocent of all charges and there was insufficient evidence to support his detention.
"I do not understand why I am being charged for crimes against humanity and I do not know why I am being told there are so many documents that implicate me," he said.
The 77-year-old former head-of-state is one of six former leaders facing trial for their roles in the death of up to two million people though execution, starvation or exhaustion during the Khmer Rogue's rule between 1975 and 1979.
During the hearing Khieu Samphan's lawyers appealed a previous court order not to translate more than 60,000 pages of documentary evidence into French - the native language of one his defense councilors, the controversial French lawyer Jacques Verges.
"If my lawyers had been able to understand these documents then my detention may not have been extended," said Khieu Samphan, who has already served one year in detention but has not yet been indicted by the tribunal.
The court extended his detention for an additional year in November.
Verges, who has previously represented Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and terrorist Ramirez Sanchez (aka Carlos the Jackal), argued the court's decision had jeopardized his client's right to a fair trial and called for Khieu Samphan to be released.
"[The co-prosecutors] said we were given translations of the submissions. This is a lie. We received introductory submissions but three months late. We have not yet received supplementary submissions," he said.
"The prosecution is mocking me, but I am wearing robes that give me dignity, not the slippers of a servant. I will return to France with dignity and be applauded when I arrive," he added.
But prosecutors argued the decision complied with the rules of the tribunal, which they said did not require all documents to be translated into the court's three working languages - French, English and Khmer.
"As long as the accused person can understand the documents it is not necessary for them to be translated into the native languages of his council," co-prosecutor William Smith said.
The court adjourned and a date for a ruling on the appeal will be set, but the defence team continued its argument at a media conference outside the court chamber.
An animated Verges described the court's failure to translate the documents as an "injustice," before challenging the prosecutors - who were present at the conference venue - to a debate over the trial in front of the media.
"We are here to defend his honour, but I am told we cannot because translating these documents is too expensive. If it cost one dollar to translate each document it would only cost 30,000 dollars to do. There is a huge difference between this amount and the 5 million dollars France has donated to the tribunal. Where has this money gone?" Verges said.
A brief shouting match also broke out during the conference between Cambodian co-defence lawyer Sa Sovan and representatives of Khmer Rouge victims.
The Khmer Rogue Tribunal was established in 2006 after a decade of negotiations between the UN and the Cambodian government and the first trial is due to begin in January 2009. (dpa)
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