Defence Team for a Named Suspect in Case 004 Files Motion to Annul Investigative Action and End Case

 Press Release

Phnom Penh, 16 January 2014

Defence Team for a Named Suspect in Case 004 Files Motion to Annul Investigative Action and End Case

On 15 January 2014, we, the Co-Lawyers for a Named Suspect in Case 004, filed a Motion Requesting an Annulment of Investigative Action Pursuant to Internal Rule 76 with the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges (“OCIJ”) at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (“ECCC”). If granted, the Motion will effectively bring an end to the case against our client.

The basis for the Motion is the ECCC’s lack of personal jurisdiction over our client, which qualifies as a procedural defect in the case and allows the Defence to request the OCIJ to ask the Chamber to annul the investigations pursuant to the ECCC rules.

ECCC jurisdiction is restricted to senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge and to those most responsible for the crimes and grave breaches of national and international law committed during the period from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979. The Court was not established to try lower-level officials, including those that may bear some responsibility for the crimes committed during this period, as they do not bear the most responsibility.

The Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) has consistently and publicly maintained this interpretation of personal jurisdiction, and we believe it is the controlling position. As a founding party to the ECCC, the RGC may influence the course of the Court and its dissolution. This should not be understood as political interference, but rather, as a progressive understanding of a completion strategy for the Court. Ad-hoc courts only exist for a limited time, and therefore, at a certain time, they need a completion strategy.

Thus, since our client does not fall under the Court’s jurisdiction, we call on the Co-Investigating Judges to act swiftly in granting the Motion and annulling the judicial investigations.

For further information, please contact: gsluiter@prakkendoliveira.nl​​

Co-Lawyers

MOM Luch

Göran SLUITER