Khmer Rouge Judge Quits Over Row About New Cases
Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court was rocked Monday by the second resignation of an international judge in recent months amid a row over whether to pursue more former regime members.
Laurent Kasper-Ansermet of Switzerland said in a statement his authority to investigate possible third and fourth cases at the tribunal had been constantly blocked by his Cambodian counterpart.
“In view of the victims’ right to have investigations conducted in a proper manner and despite his determination to do so, Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet considers that the present circumstances no longer allow him to properly and freely perform his duties,” a statement released by the court said.
In October, German judge Siegfried Blunk quit the court, blaming government interference.
The court, set up to find justice for the deaths of up to two million people under the hardline communist Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s, has so far completed one trial, convicting a former prison chief to life in jail.
A second trial involving the regime’s three most senior surviving leaders is now under way.