Cambodian judge accused of bias will stay for Khmer Rouge hearing
- From: Chim <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:11:34 -0800 (PST)
Cambodian judge accused of bias will stay for Khmer Rouge hearing
Posted : Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:56:01 GMT
Phnom Penh - A motion seeking the dismissal of a Cambodian judge by a
former Khmer Rouge leader's defense team was rejected, a court
spokesman said Wednesday. Media spokesman for the Extraordinary
Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Reach Sambath, said the court had
dismissed a protest against former Military Court chief Ney Thol by
the defense team of accused "Brother Number 2" Nuon Chea.
Nuon Chea is appealing his pre-trial detention at a February 4 hearing
by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the court. Nuon Chea was arrested in
September and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for
his alleged role in the 1975-79 regime.
Nuon Chea's lawyers accused Ney Thol of not being impartial and being
politically biased due to alleged links with the ruling Cambodian
People's Party in a motion made public Wednesday.
Dutch lawyers Victor Koppe and Michiel Pestman claimed Ney Thol's
"continued presence on the bench threatens to undermine the
credibility and integrity" of not just Nuon Chea's hearing, but all
cases before the court.
Previously Ney Thol stepped down from preliminary hearings of another
of the five former leaders currently in custody, former Toul Sleng
torture center commandant Duch, saying because he had been held in the
military prison since 1999, he could be seen to be too close to the
case.
"I can only say that the motion was not upheld," Sambath said, but
declined to comment further.
Five senior Khmer Rouge figures, including Nuon Chea, are in the
custody of the joint UN-Cambodia Extraodinary Chambers of the Courts
of Cambodia charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Hearings regarding the crimes the four men and one woman are charged
with are expected to get underway within months. Many senior cadre,
including former supremo Pol Pot, are already dead. Pol Pot died at
home in 1998.
Ney Thol, one of the country's most senior judges, was not available
for comment Wednesday but has previously strongly denied any
allegations of bias made against him.
.
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