By Lauren Crothers
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
Judges in the long-running trial of two leading Khmer Rouge figures have appointed a ‘reserve’ team of standby lawyers to a defendant whose own legal team has repeatedly delayed proceedings.
Lawyers representing former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan, 83, in a genocide trial have clashed with judges over their failure to attend court. The lawyers say they are too busy working on Samphan’s appeal against a previous conviction for crimes against humanity.
In a decision posted on the court’s website Friday, the judges said they appointed a Cambodian and an international lawyer to represent Samphan because “the conduct of Khieu Samphan and his defense counsel over the last two months, including the failure to appear in court, obstructed proceedings.”
The tribunal said the order would prevent future delays as the standby lawyers would be able to replace Samphan’s three-person legal team as his court-appointed lawyers.
Arthur Vercken, Anta Guisse and Kong Sam Onn have repeatedly argued in court that they are unable to properly defend their client in the genocide case as they are still appealing his August conviction.
Sam Onn told The Anadolu Agency that the decision was a threat to their work defending the ex-communist leader.
With the appeal nearly finalized and due to be filed before the end of the year, the team intends to attend hearings when the court sits again on Jan. 8, he said.
“I think such a move shows that the court cares too much about preventative measures for Khieu Samphan,” Sam Onn said.
“I believe that such a move is a waste of resources, because we generally do not boycott hearings at all and again, Khieu Samphan didn’t need a new team to assist him for this matter, so it’s not relevant.
“I think the move is a kind of a threat for Khieu Samphan. After we finalize the appeal brief, then we can go to the hearing and we do not expect there to be any delays - except, of course, if the court abuses Khieu Samphan’s rights.”
Long Panhavuth, a court monitor with the Cambodia Justice Initiative, said the decision showed “good planning” but it remained to be seen whether hiring other lawyers would cause unexpected problems.
He said: “It is good planning that the trial chamber has implemented this practice in case a boycott happens again and may stall proceedings... but one thing I am worried about is the cooperation between the full lawyer and alternative lawyers as well as the accused and the alternative lawyers.”
Samphan and co-defendant Nuon Chea, the 88-year-old former chief ideologue for the Khmer Rouge, led the regime that was responsible for the deaths of up to 3 million people during the 1975-1979 Killing Fields era.
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