By Lauren Crothers
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
A former Khmer Rouge navy commander charged with crimes against humanity continues to evade capture after judicial police failed to act upon a second warrant for his arrest, issued by a judge who announced his resignation Tuesday.
Meas Muth, charged by the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s international co-investigating judge in March, is a suspect in what is known as Case 003 – which Cambodia’s prime minister has vehemently insisted will never go ahead.
On Tuesday, it emerged that that the investigating judge, Mark Harmon, had resigned from his post, citing “strictly personal reasons.”
“It is with considerable regret that I have tendered my resignation, for strictly personal reasons, with effect as of the date upon which my successor has been sworn into office,” his statement said.
It added that he had found it an honor to serve in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and “to have had the privilege, along with my international and Cambodian colleagues, to pursue justice on behalf of the many victims who suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.”
Harmon had been operating alone because his national counterpart, You Bunleng, considers Case 003 and a subsequent case, known as 004, to be closed.
Court spokesperson Lars Olsen reiterated Tuesday that Harmon’s resignation was “strictly personal,” telling Anadolu Agency that it was tendered two months ago and “was completely unrelated to any developments in the case.”
The court is a hybrid body between the UN and Cambodian government, and millions of dollars from donors have been ploughed into it.
The declassified second warrant, which is dated June 4, was released by the court Monday.
In it, Harmon again calls upon the relevant authorities to apprehend Meas Muth for an “adversarial hearing” at the court, or hold him in temporary detention until he can be transferred.
On Tuesday, The Cambodia Daily quoted the court’s security chief, Mao Chandara, as saying that he hadn’t even received the paperwork.
“It doesn’t mean we have not implemented it but we are studying security issues and the opinion of villagers,” he said.
Ang Udom, one of Meas Muth’s defense lawyers, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday that he and his international counterpart, Michael Karnavas, stand by a press release they issued late last month, in which they said the warrants were invalid.
“It is our stance that the arrest warrant is not valid,” Udom reiterated by telephone.
Asked if he believes the police would act upon the second one, he responded: “It’s up to them — if they think it is proper and valid, then they will exercise that. We just informed Meas Muth that this was in the public domain, and he think nothing of it.”
However, a court monitor and program officer with the Cambodian Justice Initiative, a project aimed at seeking justice for victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, told Anadolu Agency the warrant is certainly valid, as per the court’s internal rules.
Insisting that it would have the backing of the prosecution, Long Panhavuth said, “I would like to reiterate that it is very important that the non-compliance of the Cambodian government… needs to be addressed politically, diplomatically and legally.”
He stressed that he was constantly appealing that “the participation of the international judges is not to add legitimacy to the process, but ensure that international standards are met, and if they can’t, they need to be honest to the victims and Cambodian people.”
To date, one Khmer Rouge suspect has been imprisoned based on a final judgment — Case 001’s Tuol Sleng prison jailer Kaing Gek Eav, who will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Case 002, which was split into two trials, is continuing.
Accused Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were found guilty of crimes against humanity in the first, but appeal hearings were held last week and this week, and they are awaiting a final outcome from the Supreme Court Chamber.
Their second trial on genocide charges is ongoing.
