The Phnom Penh Post

In what has become a somewhat routine process at the ECCC, tribunal judges turned down a defendant's appeal against provisional detention today. Along with citing the usual rationale -- fear the charged person will try to flee, concern she might intimidate witnesses -- judges described some of the "well-founded reasons to believe (Ieng Thirith) may have committed crimes against humanity."

Judges referenced her powerful position as minister of social affairs under Democratic Kampuchea. In that role, she had admitted to them, she was involved in the administration of the country's hospitals -- including hospital food -- and pharmaceutical plants.

"My duty was heavy," the judges said Thirith had told them.

I've just returned from a trip to former Khmer Rouge stronghold Anlong Veng, which I will write about soon. But first, a few items of note:

* Ieng Sary's hearing to appeal his pre-trial detention wrapped up last week . 

* A decision regarding a similar appeal by his wife, Ieng Thirith, will be announced this Wednesday at the ECCC.      

Judges have turned down a request for visitation among the five defendants detained at the ECCC. The only exception, which I've noted before, is regular contact between husband and wife Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith.

"It is true that approximately 30 years have passed between the alleged acts and the arrest of the Charges Persons, during which time they have had the opportunity to contact each other," the Co-Investigating Judges wrote in a decision released last week. "However, the potential for prejudicial collusion increases considerably once the persons in question are arrested and charged."

At that point, the Co-Investigating Judges wrote, suspects have access to case files, which describe the nature of their individual responsibility and potential legal arguments against them. Interestingly, this issue of access to case files figured prominently in the appeal hearing of Ieng Thirith last week. Prosecutors repeatedly argued that access to her case file would make it easier for the former social affairs minister to identify and intimidate witnesses.

Shuffling into the courtroom, her frail figure wrapped in a beige cardigan, Ieng Thirith looked more grandmotherly than menacing during her first ECCC appearance Wednesday.

But the former social affairs minister has not completely lost her edge. Cambodian courtroom observers (some witnesses for the tribunal) were hesitant to lock eyes with the so-called "First Lady" of Democratic Kampuchea. Most kept their attention focused on lawyers and judges, reserving their curiosity about Thirith for quick, quiet glimpses.

In the most recent edition of the Post, Cat Barton examines the question of Ieng Thirith's sanity. The former Democratic Kampuchea social affairs minister is scheduled to go before the court this Wednesday to appeal her pre-trial detention.

Thirith's lawyer claims he has Thai-language medical documents that prove his client is not mentally fit to stand trial.

Given some of the defendants' advanced ages, the question of mental competence will no doubt continue to plague the tribunal. The Pre-Trial Chamber rejected Nuon Chea's request last month for an independent psychiatric evaluation. According to press accounts, Nuon has claimed his "thinking is unclear" and "his brain [is] not normal," the Open Society Justice Initiative reported.

The only female defendant currently detained at the ECCC will go before the Pre-Trial Chamber May 21. During the Khmer Rouge years, Ieng Thirith was Minister of Social Affairs and Head of Democratic Kampuchea's Red Cross Society. Her older sister, Khieu Ponnary, married Pol Pot. The Pre-Trial Chamber recently approved conjugal visits between Thirith and her husband Ieng Sary, who is also in detention at the ECCC.