Tribunal Upholds Khieu Samphan Detention

Tribunal Upholds Khieu Samphan Detention
By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
29 December 2008


Khmer Rouge tribunal judges on Monday denied a new request for the
temporary release of Khieu Samphan, whose pre-trial detention hearing
has been delayed by a defense request to have thousands of documents
translated into French.

Khieu Samphan's defense team appealed last year to end provisional
detention of the former nominal head of the regime, who was arrested
in November 2007 and faces charges of war crimes and crimes against
humanity. But the April hearing was postponed by the courts' failure
to fulfill a request for the translation of some 60,000 documents from
Khmer into French.

The lawyers, Jacques Verges and Sar Savan, then filed an urgent
supplemental application Dec. 4 requesting again their client's
release, claiming Khieu Samphan, 77, was being "held arbitrarily," as
proceedings face continued delays.

"The application is inadmissible," said Prak Kimsan, president of the
Pre-Trial Chamber, in a Dec. 24 decision.

Defense lawyers could not be reached for comment Monday.

The tribunal, which was established in 2006 after years of
negotiationbetween Cambodia and the UN, has yet to try one of the five
formerleaders of the regime it has in custody. The first trial, of
prisonchief Kaing Kek Iev, is expected to begin in the first quarter
of2009.
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