A French lawyer known for his provocative style and infamous clients has taken center stage at the tribunal for Cambodia’s former Khmer Rouge leaders, challenging the judges and adding to the woes of an already troubled court.
The aggressive stance taken by Jacques Verges at an appeal by former Khmer Rouge president Khieu Samphan for release from pretrial detention augurs possible new hurdles for the tribunal, plagued over the past few years by political wrangling, corruption scandals and inadequate financing.
Conflict within the defense team surfaced yesterday when Khieu Samphan’s other lawyer, Cambodian Say Bory, urged the Frenchman to tone down his provocative style.
“If he doesn’t, it could be the end for him ... and then what would happen to the case?” Say Bory asked. “I want this to move forward.”
The spotlight in a pretrial hearing on Wednesday was on the 83-year-old Verges, who triggered a delay with an outburst over the court’s failure to translate thousands of pages of documents into French.
Verges has said he likes to employ what he calls a “rupture” strategy, questioning the legitimacy of the court and accusing it of being a tool of injustice.
On Wednesday he described the tribunal’s case against Khieu Samphan as “invalid from the start.”
Wednesday’s hearing on Khieu Samphan’s appeal was abruptly adjourned when Verges refused to continue, protesting that the case file had not been translated.
“French is an official language of the tribunal. There is not one page of the case file against Mr Khieu Samphan translated into French,” Verges explained afterward to reporters. “I should be capable of knowing what my client is blamed for.”
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