PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) --
A Dutch war crimes lawyer has joined the defense team of a former Khmer Rouge ideologist who has been detained pending trial by Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal, a statement said Thursday.
Nuon Chea, who has denied any guilt, is the highest-ranking Khmer Rouge leader detained by the tribunal aimed at seeking justice for crimes committed by the regime. He is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Nuon Chea's new lawyer, Michiel Pestman, will work alongside his Cambodian lawyer, Son Arun.
"I will do everything that I can to ensure that our client receives a fair trial. It is essential that he has a proper defense," Pestman said in a statement issued by the tribunal.
Pestman, a partner at a law firm in Amsterdam, was a member of a team representing defendants from Bosnia and Herzegovina at the genocide trials at the International Court of Justice from 1993-2001. Since 2003, he has also represented another war crimes defendant before the Special Court for Sierra Leone, according to the statement.
Nuon Chea, 81, was known as "Brother No. 2," reflecting his position as right-hand man to Pol Pot, the late leader of the Khmer Rouge. The group's radical policies caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, overwork, disease and execution from 1975-1979.
Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who headed the former Khmer Rouge S-21 torture center, was charged on July 31 with crimes against humanity. Prosecutors have recommended three other suspects be indicted, but have not named them publicly.
Both Duch and Nuon Chea have appealed their pre-trial detention orders.
A Dutch war crimes lawyer has joined the defense team of a former Khmer Rouge ideologist who has been detained pending trial by Cambodia's U.N.-backed genocide tribunal, a statement said Thursday.
Nuon Chea, who has denied any guilt, is the highest-ranking Khmer Rouge leader detained by the tribunal aimed at seeking justice for crimes committed by the regime. He is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Nuon Chea's new lawyer, Michiel Pestman, will work alongside his Cambodian lawyer, Son Arun.
"I will do everything that I can to ensure that our client receives a fair trial. It is essential that he has a proper defense," Pestman said in a statement issued by the tribunal.
Pestman, a partner at a law firm in Amsterdam, was a member of a team representing defendants from Bosnia and Herzegovina at the genocide trials at the International Court of Justice from 1993-2001. Since 2003, he has also represented another war crimes defendant before the Special Court for Sierra Leone, according to the statement.
Nuon Chea, 81, was known as "Brother No. 2," reflecting his position as right-hand man to Pol Pot, the late leader of the Khmer Rouge. The group's radical policies caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, overwork, disease and execution from 1975-1979.
Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who headed the former Khmer Rouge S-21 torture center, was charged on July 31 with crimes against humanity. Prosecutors have recommended three other suspects be indicted, but have not named them publicly.
Both Duch and Nuon Chea have appealed their pre-trial detention orders.
No comments:
Post a Comment