Indictments Hint at Tribunal Independence: Scholar

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
09 September 2009

An American professor who has been following and writing crucial articles about the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal on Monday offered a cautious congratulations to the court’s latest development which could lead to more prosecutions of the regime’s senior leaders.

John Hall, a law professor at Chapman University School of Law, said in a letter to VOA Khmer that “by deciding to open the door to additional prosecutions, the tribunal has proclaimed its determination to remain above political manipulation.”

Hall was referring to a decision by the Pre-Trial Chamber last week to move five more indictments to the investigating judges, following the recommendation of the international prosecutor’s office and against the judgment of the Cambodian prosecutor.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned that further indictments could lead to instability or war, fears echoed by Cambodian officials and judges. (Three Cambodian Pre-Trial judges decided against moving the indictments forward, but with two international judges in favor of the move, the chamber did not reach the super-majority necessary to kill the prosecution’s submissions to investigating judges.)

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