CAMBODIA: Khmer Rouge leader arrested
Updated
After long delays, Cambodia's genocide tribunal proceedings are gaining momentum. Pol Pot's number two lieutenant and the most senior surviving leader, Nuon Chea, has been arrested and will soon face charges.
JARVIS: In mid July the co-prosecutors passed what they call an introductory submission to the co-investigating judges. We have a complex system here which is following the civil law system. In this introductory submission they identified some 25 what they call factual situations in which they believe that crimes against humanity and other crimes that are under the jurisdiction of this court were committed. And they named five suspects in this introductory submission. It has been up to the co-investigating judges to carefully go through this submission and decide whom to charge. And today we've got the second of those five people have been, is about to be formally charged.
MCCARTHY: And when is he likely to be brought to trial?
JARVIS: The process is that he has been brought to the court today, this afternoon he will be interviewed by the co-investigating judges in what they call an initial appearance. He will be informed of the charges against him, and they will decide whether he should be detained or not. And then they will proceed with the rest of the investigation. The civil law process allows this period for the investigating judges to interview witnesses, both from the prosecution and from the defence, and also victims may come forward and also bring their own evidence. And so it could take some months before the case goes to trial. We expect it will probably be early next year.
MCCARTHY: I will say there have been concerns that with the ages of the leaders, and I do note that Nuon Chea is in his 80s, that there was a concern that they would not live to see their trial. Are you more confident now that we will in fact see the trial of these five leaders?
JARVIS: Yes absolutely, and I think Nuon Chea himself was quoted as saying that he said he definitely was not going to die before the trial, that was his own words. Certainly we are all mindful of the elapsed time, and we have doctors on hand 24 hours a day and we are very, very concerned with maintaining the health of any charged persons. But of course we also need to think that the elapsed time affects not only charged persons, but also witnesses and victims and indeed all the Cambodian people who've waited so long for this trial to take place.
Presenter: Joanna McCarthy
Speakers: Dr Helen Jarvis, chief of public affairs for the Extrordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
