The Phnom Penh Post

Philippe Greciano, a French lawyer who joined the defence team for former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan last year, says he is stepping down. Here is the statement from Mr. Greciano:

"Professor Philippe Gréciano completes mission of international counsel in the defense team of Mr. Khieu Samphan, former Khmer Rouge head of state. Specialist in criminal law and human rights, he brought his expertise to clarify the legal debate in the interests of truth and reconciliation for the Kingdom of Cambodia. The defense team thanks to the quality of his work and wish him continued success in its activities."

Khieu Samphan will continue to be represented by Cambodian lawyer Sa Sovan and the well-known (and famously provocative) French lawyer Jacques Verges. 

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For those in the capital, Meta House on Sothearos Blvd. will tonight be screening Facing Genocide, a documentary on former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan filmed ahead of his arrest in 2007. Here's the synopsis from Meta House:

"Khieu Samphan was one of the closest collaborators of Pol Pot and the one the fronted the KR movement. He has succeeded in living his life without being held accountable for the Khmer Rouge crimes, until his arrest in 2007. Swedish filmmakers D. Aronowitsch & S. Lindberg have followed him two years before his arrest. FACING GENOCIDE (94 mins, 2010) is a search into the personality of Khieu Samphan. The film gives insight into his mindset and his close relation to Pol Pot. It is a unique story about an ex-leader, the time before his arrest and before he is put on trial. Film is presented by lawyer/book author Theary Seng, one of the film’s protagonists."

First of all, this blog has been down for the past few months and posts from earlier this year have been deleted due to some combination of the PPPost site being hacked and our transition to new software. We apologize for these difficulties, which we hope will not be repeated.

In tribunal news today, the court has announced the date of the initial hearing second case – featuring Khmer Rouge Brother No 2 Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and social action minister Ieng Thirith – will open on June 27. At this hearing, according to a document posted on the court’s website today, the parties will submit proposed witness lists and raise preliminary objections, and the lead civil party lawyers will offer initial specifications of the reparations awards they will be seeking in the case.

 So-called “substantive hearings”, featuring witness testimony and oral argument, are likely to begin in August.