Co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde told members of the press Wednesday that he hopes the pre-trial investigation of Case 2 will be complete by the end of this year. This case file includes the other four defendants in custody. Case 1, that of Comrade Duch, is being tried now.

The investigation of Case 2 must be finished before indictments can be issued against Duch's co-detainees. But once the investigation is complete, parties can request further investigative action or appeal the findings, delaying the start of an actual trial.

Lemonde said the goal of finishing investigation by the end of 2009 was "a very ambitious one given the complexity of the file."

* Pictured: Marcel Lemonde.