By Lauren Crothers
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
The drawn out trials of two leading figures from Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge regime took an unorthodox turn Friday when judges offically appointed one defendant's existing legal team.
Khieu Samphan, the 83-year-old former Khmer Rouge head of state, has ordered his legal team not to attend his genocide trial while they appeal his August conviction for crimes against humanity.
The order has blocked the second trial of Samphan and 88-year-old co-defendant Nuon Chea, who was the movement’s chief ideologue, to the frustration of the tribunal’s judges, victims and their families.
The judges’attempt to break the deadlock came Friday when they formally appointed Samphan’s current lawyers to defend him against the genocide case.
In their judgement, the tribunal said: “The Chamber notes that counsel are justifying their conduct, which includes disrespecting Chamber decisions and violating court orders, on the basis of client instructions.
“Such a justification cannot be used by lawyers who are appointed by the court and instructed, in the interests of justice, to attend proceedings in order to assist the accused.”
The ruling – which technically means Samphan’s legal team must now follow the judges’ instruction rather than its client’s – said the lawyers must attend a hearing on Monday or face unspecified action.
Long Panhavuth, a court monitor with the Cambodia Justice Initiative, described it as a “very strange decision.”
He told The Anadolu Agency: “This is a new development in international criminal law, and I think this is a very creative decision of the trial chamber to move forward with the case hearings.”
He added: “I would say that the trial chamber judges have done their best to insure that the accused has the same team and it will mean a new team doesn’t have to review documents and prepare for the case.”
But Samphan’s Cambodian lawyer, Kong Sam Onn, told AA that he and his French colleagues, Anta Guisse and Arthur Vercken, are beholden to Samphan and would refuse the order.
He said: “As defence lawyers, we are not court officials. We are independent professionals, so we assist justice. We do not work for the court so we cannot follow the court’s order when it is against the interests of our client. Otherwise we are going to have trouble with the client.
“It is unusual, of course. They just want to damage our focus because we are focusing on the appeal draft and they want to destroy our plan.”
The defendants, who were given life sentences for crimes against humanity, 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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