The prosecution yes­terday contested suggestions from de­­­­fence lawyers that certain documents included in their list for the first “mini-trial” in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s second case were beyond the scope of the charges being addressed.

“All of the parts of the indictment dealing with the establishment and operations of this regime are relevant; they are a part of this first trial whether the defence like it or not,” senior assistant co-prosecutor Tarik Abdulhak said in court.

Evidence hearings at the tribunal this week have centred on the admissibility of documents supporting the indictment and some of those put forward by the prosecution.

Co-defence counsel for former Khmer Rouge Brother Num­ber Two Nuon Chea, Son Arun, objected to documents described by the prosecution as “DK media and public statements”, requesting again to see originals of documents and suggesting that some could have been “manufactured”.

In recent hearings, Nuon Chea repeatedly asked to be shown original copies of Revolutionary Flag and Revolutionary Youth magazines that were presented to him in court.

Co-defence counsel for former Khmer Rouge foreign affairs minister Ieng Sary, Michael Karnavas, stated that simply because a document was included in the case file or referenced in the indictment did not make it admissible at trial.

International deputy co-prosecutor William Smith stated it had already been ruled that originals were not required to be produced before the court.

Civil party lead co-lawyer Elisabeth Simmoneau Fort said defence teams had “abused” their discretion this week by repeating objections, a comment Karnavas later termed “insulting and unwarranted”.

Hearings next week are set to include the testimony of a representative from the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, an independent NGO that has provided some 500,000 documents to parties at the ECCC.