August 30th, 2010
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Defense lawyers for Kaing Kek Iev, the Khmer Rouge prison chief better known as Duch, filed their final appeal for his acquittal Wednesday, asking the Supreme Court Chamber to view him as a witness and not a detainee.
Duch was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Trial Chamber last month, receiving a commuted 19 years for his role as supervisor of Tuol Sleng prison.
But in their motion filed Wednesday, his defense said he qualified as “a witness of events during the period of Democratic Kampuchea” and deserving witness protection. Defense also cited reported errors by the Trial Chamber in determining his original non-commuted sentence of 35 years.
Tribunal legal affairs spokesman Lars Olsen said Wednesday it was not known how long the Supreme Court would need to make a determination, but “the scope of the appeal” probably meant no decision until November at the earliest.
August 30th, 2010
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Although China maintains certain principles in its foreign policy, in the case of Cambodia it has also used inter-personal relationships.
Despite sweeping political changes in Cambodia over the past 50 years, the Chinese government has continued to focus its relationship on former king Norodom Sihanouk, according to author Sophie Richardson, who recently released a new book called “China, Cambodia, and the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence.”
While the Chinese government has cultivated a relationship with the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party, the former king has never been far from the picture, Richardson writes.
Chinese leaders have often “referred to Sihanouk, their fellow traveler of four decades, as a positive model for the CPP,” she writes.
In meetings in 1998 and 1999 between Chinese leaders and Hun Sen, China wanted strengthened unity and cooperation under Norodom Sihanouk’s leadership and a coalition government, Richardson says.
August 30th, 2010
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Thailand and Cambodia have decided to normalize diplomatic relations after nearly a year.
Tensions flared between Thailand and Cambodia when former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is wanted in Bangkok on corruption charges, took a post as an economic advisor to the Phnom Penh government.
But Mr. Thaksin has given up the post and the Thai foreign ministry says ambassadors will return to their posts in the two countries. The foreign ministry also thanked Cambodia for its cooperation in “boosting bilateral relations.”
Mr. Thaksin was ousted in a coup in 2006 and has lived in exile since 2008. He has close links with Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, and has business interests in Cambodia.
August 30th, 2010
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Outspoken opposition parliamentarian Mu Sochua, who lost a defamation case to Prime Minister Hun Sen that resulted in a salary deduction, has vowed to go after the courts to demand reform of the country’s judicial system.
“We, the opposition party together with all the people, demand a justice system that is truly independent and does not act as a political tool,” Mu Sochua said as a guest on “Hello VOA” Monday.
Mu Sochua lost her final appeal to the Supreme Court in June. Her salary will now be garnished to repay approximately $4,000 in court fines and compensation to Hun Sen, who countersued her when she brought defamation charges against him last year.
