Prosecutors in the case against former Khmer Rouge cadre Im Chaem have three months to file their final submissions against her, investigating judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal announced yesterday.

Chaem, who was allegedly secretary of Preah Net Preah district in the Northwest Zone during the Khmer Rouge regime, was charged in absentia in March of last year for homicide and crimes against humanity, including extermination, enslavement and persecution on political grounds.

Her case was severed into Case 004/01 in February and the charges stem from acts allegedly committed at the Phnom Trayong security centre and the Spean Sreng worksite.

Yesterday’s trial chamber witness, whose name is confidential, said Chaem was a trusted cadre of former Brother Number Five, Ta Mok.

After the three-month deadline, her defence team will have time to respond to the prosecution’s final submission, with a closing order in Chaem’s case expected by first quarter 2017.

If her case proceeds, Chaem would be the second woman to be tried for crimes committed during the regime. The first, former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, was ultimately found unfit for trial due to progressive dementia.