AFP
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned foreign judges and prosecutors at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge court yesterday that they will fail in their attempt to prosecute more suspects.
An international prosecutor at the Khmer Rouge tribunal earlier this week formally requested five more suspects from the late 1970s regime be investigated for crimes against humanity, war crimes and other offences. But Hun Sen said at a provincial ceremony yesterday that the court would not get more indictments because Cambodian judges outnumber their international colleagues.
“Please go ahead with the procedures. I will not have a say, but the thing is that you need to find a supporting force...you need four votes,” Hun Sen said in a speech.
Hun Sen added there were three Cambodian judges and two foreign judges at the tribunal’s pre-trial chamber, meaning that they cannot get the four votes to indict additional suspects “thus, the final results are zero”.
The premier denied he was influencing the court but accused some foreign judges and prosecutors of receiving “orders from their governments” to cause problems in Cambodia.
The premier on Monday renewed strong warnings against trying more Khmer Rouge suspects, saying his country could be plunged back into civil war.
No comments:
Post a Comment