Lawyer leaves Khieu Samphan defence team

Thu, 19 May 2011 08:24:23 +0100

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 ...

"Facing Genocide" screening tonight in Phnom Penh

Wed, 18 May 2011 04:52:32 +0100

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 h...

Back online/Case 002 initial hearing set for June 27

Mon, 16 May 2011 13:52:09 +0100

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 s...

Detention appeals denied

Mon, 03 May 2010 07:29:30 +0100

In public hearings at the Khmer Rouge tribunal on Friday, the pre-trial chamber judges upheld the extension of pre-trial detention for Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan for a third year after their arrest in November 2007. You can read more about it here, or check out the court's own website to read the full text of the judges' rulings on Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan.

Genocide charges against three suspects

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:22:19 +0100

The tribunal announced this week that genocide charges had for the first time been brought against three regime leaders: Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Khieu Samphan.

The charges stem from the regime's treatment of Vietnamese and the Cham Muslim minority group.

Brother No 2 Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary, the regime's foreign minister, were informed of the charges during a meeting with investigating judges on Wednesday. Former head of state Khieu Samphan was informed Friday. A meeting with I...

Lawyers call for Lemonde's removal

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:15:54 +0100

My apologies for playing catch-up on this post. I am just returning from a trip to the provinces and was not around to cover two stories of note:

No. 1: On October 7, the tribunal made public six summons letters, dated September 25 and bearing the signature of International Co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde, requesting that six government officials - Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and two...

Judges will not investigate corruption

Elena Lesley — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:20:00 +0100

Co-Investigating Judges at the tribunal denied a request Friday that they investigate allegations of corruption at the court. The request had been lodged by Nuon Chea's defense team, and was supported by two other defense teams.

The Co-Investigating Judges wrote that probing such allegations was outside their jurisdiction.

"Whilst reiterating ...

The relevance of Dec. 4, 2008

Elena Lesley — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:00:00 +0100

In arguments both Thursday and Friday, lawyers debated the relevance of an altercation that took place between civil parties and Khieu Samphan's defense lawyers last December.

It was the first time hostilities at the court boiled over into public dissent -- and near violence. Angered by the provocative Jacques Verges, and his Cambodian co-lawyer Sa Sovan, Khmer Rouge victims began a shouting match. Sa, as civil party lawyer Silke Studzinksy pointed out Thursday, "did not have the nece...

Verges skips hearing to nurse injured colleague

Elena Lesley — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:00:00 +0100

For the second time this week, judges at the tribunal adjourned and rescheduled an appeal hearing. Khieu Samphan's appeal against extension of provisional detention, along with additional translation arguments, will be hashed out April 3.

Khieu requested the hearing be delayed because his infamous French lawyer, Jacques Verges, was unable to make it to court. The reason for his absence is somewhat unclear.

Thursday afternoon, the court notified journalists that Khieu's hearing wou...

KRT in brief

Elena Lesley — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:00:00 +0100

* Khieu Samphan's lawyers lost an appeal Friday requesting that their client's entire case file be translated into French. Judges ruled that the appeal was inadmissible. While the court's translation rules allow for a number of primary documents to be translated, they do not require the translation of every document in a case file. Khieu's foreign lawyer, Jacques Verges, has continually argued that he cannot properly defend his client until the entire case file is translated into French.

Judges to weigh Khieu Samphan appeal in public

Elena Lesley — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:30:00 +0100

The last week of February is shaping up to be a busy one at the ECCC. In addition to appeal hearings for Ieng Thirith and Ieng Sary, judges have now scheduled a public hearing for Khieu Samphan on Feb. 27.

Khieu, like the other defendants, is appealing the extension of his provisional detention. Judges denied a request from Co-Prosecutors that the appeal decision be based on written submissions alone.

Controversial defense lawyer says he lost 50 relatives to Khmer Rouge

Elena Lesley — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:12:00 +0100

I'm pleased that the Post took time to interview defense lawyer Sa Sovan, who was at the center of a verbal dispute that broke out last month after Khieu Samphan's hearing. Much has been written about Khieu's foreign co-lawyer, Jacques Verges, but it was Sa who stole the spotlight Dec. 4 wh...

KRT in brief

Elena Lesley — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:47:00 +0100

* Judges at the tribunal's Pre-Trial Chamber have decided that Khieu Samphan's request for release from provisional detention is inadmissible.

* Sources close to the court have said six more potential defendants have been identified at the tribunal. But some court observers worry government interference may prevent the additional prosecutions from moving forward.

* Tribunal officials have finally finished drafting detention rules at the ECCC. è½è½

Videos from Khieu Samphan hearing

Elena Lesley — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100

I've been working with the Post's webmaster to try to post video clips from last Thursday's Khieu Samphan hearing on the blog. We've been having some trouble so, in the meantime, you can view a couple of the video clips on YouTube.

The first shows lawyer Jacques Verges addressing reporters after his client's hearing. The second records t...

KR victims accuse Verges of "playing games," call on judges to bar him from court

Elena Lesley — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:16:00 +0100

As anyone who has spent time in Cambodia knows, people in this country generally go to great lengths to avoid overt confrontation. So the verbal sparring that erupted at a post-hearing press conference Thursday revealed the extent to which Khmer Rouge survivors were offended -- and even enraged -- by the antics of Khieu Samphan's defense team.

Ce...

Prince thinks "Comrade Duch" will be only prosecution at KRT

Elena Lesley — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:34:00 +0100

* In an interview in yesterday's Post, Prince Sisowath Thomico says "I think that spending US$100 million just to try Duch is a big problem, because I don't think Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith will ever be tried." Khieu Samphan's lawyer, Jacques Verges, expressed a similar viewpoint in a recent interview. This is a concern I often hear. Duch's case is by far the most straightforward, and even it is progressing more slowly than originally expected. The cases again...

"One of my principles is to have no principles," Khieu Samphan lawyer says in interview

Elena Lesley — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 21:19:00 +0100

Jacques Verges, international co-lawyer for Khieu Samphan, was recently interviewed by Der Spiegel. Verges has gained notoriety for his infamous client roster and Khieu -- a friend from his student days in Paris -- is his most recent cause.

In April, Verges halted his client's appeal hearing by refusing to participate because the entire case file h...

Khieu Samphan hearing rescheduled

Elena Lesley — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:08:00 +0100

The public hearing to address the recurring translation issues raised by lawyers for Khieu Samphan has been moved from Dec. 8 to Dec. 4.Apparently Khieu's international co-lawyer, Jacques Verges, was unavailable on the scheduled date.

Khieu Samphan hearing set for December

Elena Lesley — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:40:00 +0100

Judges at the ECCC's pre-trial chamber have scheduled a public hearing to address the recurring dispute over translation of Khieu Samphan's case file. Khieu's foreign lawyer, Jacques Verges, has insisted that the entire file be translated into French -- a request judges denied and defense lawyers subsequently appealed. Arguments will be hashed out Dec. 8.

Judges also recently denied Khieu's request to be released from pre-trial detention.

KR detainees chat, exercise together

Elena Lesley — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:11:00 +0100

I've been in Pailin for the Center for Social Development's forum (rescheduled from Oct. 17) and want to note a couple tribunal developments that took place in my absence:

* For the first time since they were taken into custody, detainees at the ECCC were allowed to socialize last week. Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Comrade Duch met for around ten minutes, chatting and strolling around the small courtyard at the detention facility.

* Judges determined Ieng Sary and Nuon Chea were...

Blog entries tagged Khieu Samphan

Lawyer leaves Khieu Samphan defence team

"Facing Genocide" screening tonight in Phnom Penh

Back online/Case 002 initial hearing set for June 27

Detention appeals denied

Genocide charges against three suspects

Lawyers call for Lemonde's removal

Judges will not investigate corruption

The relevance of Dec. 4, 2008

Verges skips hearing to nurse injured colleague

KRT in brief

Judges to weigh Khieu Samphan appeal in public

Controversial defense lawyer says he lost 50 relatives to Khmer Rouge

KRT in brief

Videos from Khieu Samphan hearing

KR victims accuse Verges of "playing games," call on judges to bar him from court

Prince thinks "Comrade Duch" will be only prosecution at KRT

"One of my principles is to have no principles," Khieu Samphan lawyer says in interview

Khieu Samphan hearing rescheduled

Khieu Samphan hearing set for December

KR detainees chat, exercise together