Wednesday, 06 June 2012
By Bridget Di Certo
Phnom Penh Post
Ta An, 79,
former deputy secretary of the Central Zone under the Khmer Rouge, eats
rice at his home in Battambang last year. Photograph: Thomas
Miller/Phnom Penh Post
The international lawyer for Case 004 suspect Ta An has written to the
UN undersecretary-general for legal affairs to request that she
intervene in what he has called a bad-faith attempt to block his
appointment in the government-opposed case.
The subject of
defence lawyer Richard Rogers’ accusation are a pair of UN staffers he
says have used underhanded tactics to prevent him taking on his proper
role.
“Despite the unequivocal support for Judge Kasper-Ansermet
from the UN, the [Deputy Director of the Office of Adminstration] and
[Defence Support Services] have used their administrative authority to
frustrate his judicial acts with respect to the assignment of the
Suspect’s choice of counsel, by blocking my appointment and denying
support,” Rogers said in a letter released yesterday.
UN employees Knut Rosandhaug, who serves as the deputy director of the office of administration, and Isaac Endeley,
chief of the Defence Support Section, are “continuing to flout a court
order issued by the former UN-appointed international reserve
Co-Investigating Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet”, Rogers says in the letter.
According
to the letter, Kasper-Ansermet on May 3 issued a Lawyer’s Recognition
Decision, but both UN staffers have “refused to respect the Suspect’s
choice of counsel or implement the Order”.
According to Rogers,
the two UN staffers have exploited the UN/Cambodian divide over former
judge Kasper-Ansermet’s authority at the tribunal by asking Cambodian
judge You Bunleng to “clarify” Kasper-Ansermet’s order, after the Swiss national had already left the court.
As
per his stated position, You Bunleng said “no suspect in Case File 004
has been placed under judicial investigation” and as such, no lawyer can
be appointed.
You Bunleng has explicitly said he does not
acknowledge any of the judicial acts of the now-resigned
Kasper-Ansermet, who began Case 004 investigations and informed the
suspects of their rights, including that of counsel, during his time in
office.
Legal affairs officer Lars Olsen said the Defence Support
Services and Office of Administration had “no views on Mr Richard
Rogers’ right to be a legal representative of a suspect in Case 004”.
“If
a lawyer wishes to be paid . . . additional requirements have to be
met,” Olsen said by email, adding that the DSS had already decided
Rogers did not meet these requirements.
In a letter from DSS
chief Endeley to Rogers dated May 30, the former cited a conflict of
interest and ethical reasons relating to Rogers’ former post as chief of
DSS, in explaining his ineligibility to be a court-appointed lawyer for
Ta An.
Documentation Center of Cambodia
legal adviser Anne Heindel said the procedure to appoint Rogers
appeared to be inconsistent with the appointment of other defence
counsel.
“These are international staff who have been accused of
obstructing the investigation, and that is a matter for the UN that it
can address internally,” she pointed out.
Rogers has requested an independent inquiry as part of a UN settlement of the dispute.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bridget Di Certo at bridget.dicerto@phnompenhpost.com
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