Australian David Wilson (L), Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet (C), and Briton Mark Slater (R), were captured and executed by the Khmer Rouge.
Adrian Lowe
August 29, 2011
The Melbourne Age
A new witness has come forward in the coronial investigation into the 1994 Cambodian murder of tourist David Wilson.
The Coroner's Court has been approached by a man who is working in Western Australia, who claims to have received new information relevant to Mr Wilson's death while he was working in Cambodia between Febraury and May last year.
Mr Wilson was murdered by the Khmer Rouge after being kidnapped and held hostage in late 1994.
An inquest into his death began in 1998 but had been adjourned until today.
Deputy State Coroner Iain West has taken over the investigation from the former state coroner Graeme Johnstone.
Counsel assisting the coroner Ian Freckleton SC said this morning that Darryl Hockey had come across the new information while living and working in Southern Cambodia last year.
Mr Hockey spoke to “a variety of persons who he believed had first-hand information about the circumstanaces in which the three hostages had been killed…he made various criticisms of the sufficiency of the interventions made by the Australian government.”
Mr Wilson was one of three men abducted by the Khmer Rouge; the others were Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet and Briton Mark Slater.
The men's kidnappers made demands for payment for their safe return but the then Keating government did not meet their demands, saying that Australia did not negotiatie with kidnappers.
Dr Freckleton told the coroner said although Mr Hockey's information was “pertinent”, given the fact that it was received several years after the murders and it was of a hearsay nature it should be placed on the inquest brief but Mr Hockey not be called as a witness.
Dr Freckleton said substantial information and documents had become available since the inquest first sat, which meant no further witnesses needed to be called.
Mr West adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed and will allow for a witness, former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade employee Alastair Gaisford to apply to become an interested party.
This would allow him to present evidence and potentially other witnesses.
The family of Mr Wilson were not present in court today, having told the Sunday Age last week that they do not want to be involved and were trying to get on with their lives.
Adrian Lowe
August 29, 2011
The Melbourne Age
A new witness has come forward in the coronial investigation into the 1994 Cambodian murder of tourist David Wilson.
The Coroner's Court has been approached by a man who is working in Western Australia, who claims to have received new information relevant to Mr Wilson's death while he was working in Cambodia between Febraury and May last year.
Mr Wilson was murdered by the Khmer Rouge after being kidnapped and held hostage in late 1994.
An inquest into his death began in 1998 but had been adjourned until today.
Deputy State Coroner Iain West has taken over the investigation from the former state coroner Graeme Johnstone.
Counsel assisting the coroner Ian Freckleton SC said this morning that Darryl Hockey had come across the new information while living and working in Southern Cambodia last year.
Mr Hockey spoke to “a variety of persons who he believed had first-hand information about the circumstanaces in which the three hostages had been killed…he made various criticisms of the sufficiency of the interventions made by the Australian government.”
Mr Wilson was one of three men abducted by the Khmer Rouge; the others were Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet and Briton Mark Slater.
The men's kidnappers made demands for payment for their safe return but the then Keating government did not meet their demands, saying that Australia did not negotiatie with kidnappers.
Dr Freckleton told the coroner said although Mr Hockey's information was “pertinent”, given the fact that it was received several years after the murders and it was of a hearsay nature it should be placed on the inquest brief but Mr Hockey not be called as a witness.
Dr Freckleton said substantial information and documents had become available since the inquest first sat, which meant no further witnesses needed to be called.
Mr West adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed and will allow for a witness, former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade employee Alastair Gaisford to apply to become an interested party.
This would allow him to present evidence and potentially other witnesses.
The family of Mr Wilson were not present in court today, having told the Sunday Age last week that they do not want to be involved and were trying to get on with their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment