ECCC, Case 002/02, Issue 23

Case 002/02

ECCC

Cambodia

English

Despite two public holidays this week, the Trial Chamber managed to complete the testimony of two witnesses and a Civil Party, and also commence that of a third witness over three days of proceedings. Mr. Keo Leou, Ms. Kong Siek, and Mr. Sem Hoeurn were all members of the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea, and they testified both on the purges of North Zone cadres from the Army Divisions and their eventual assignment to the Kampong Chhnang Airport Construction site (KCA). On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the Trial Chamber revisited the earlier trial segment on the First January Dam worksite in Kampong Thom Province in order to hear testimony from Witness Yean Lun, who worked as a laborer and a militiaman at the site. Judge Jean-Marc Lavergne intervened twice this week during the examinations of Mr. Keo Leou and Ms. Kong Siek when Nuon Chea’s Defense Counsel asked specific questions without referencing documents in support of the assertions made. The Judge reminded Counsel not to use evidence that may have been obtained under torture, but the issue returned and remains contentious as the Parties await the Trial Chamber’s long awaited ruling on the matter.