Khmer Rouge

Hundreds of Cambodians queued up on Monday morning to enter the UN-backed tribunal building on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. They were here to attend the first day of a trial many had thought would never happen - it is only the court's second case so far.

"Those who are accused of being the political leadership of the country, accused of designing the policies that eventually led to nationwide crimes are finally being put on trial 30 years after the alleged crimes happened," said Lars Olsen, a spokesman for the court.

He also pointed out that this week's hearings were preliminary and that evidence and witnesses would be presented in the trial proper later this year.

"This is the formal beginning of the trial but it's going to be limited to procedural elements such as defining the number of witnesses and what kind of witnesses will be called for the first stage of the trial," he said.

He added that it would also deal with some of the "preliminary objections from the defendants against parts of the court’s mandate."

Defense puts forward many objections

Those objections came thick and fast. The first defendant to leave was Nuon Chea, the late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's deputy, who is also known as Brother Number Two, and widely regarded as the regime’s chief ideologue.

Nuon Chea's lawyer, Michiel Pestman, claimed his client was dismayed by the court’s refusal to discuss a list of 300 defense witnesses, and said there was evidence the government had influenced the investigation.

"He will leave and only come back when this Trial Chamber, your honors, is willing to discuss his objections and all of his witnesses," Pestman told the court. "If not this week, then at the next initial hearing. Our client no longer wants to honor these proceedings with his presence unless these objections and all of his witnesses are put on the agenda as the rules of this court prescribe."

However, international prosecutor Andrew Cayley said that many of the claims made by Nuon Chea's defense were "simply not true."

Later on Monday, the former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife Ieng Thirith also left the court, citing ill health. The fourth defendant, former head of state Khieu Samphan, remained in court.

All four deny the charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and an array of crimes under Cambodian law.

Live broadcast across country

Monday's proceedings were screened live across Cambodia. Un Roan, a 58-year-old woman from the northern province of Kampong Thom, was one of those who turned up at the court to watch the trial live.

She said her immediate family had suffered tremendously under the Khmer Rouge, although none of her relatives had been killed.

"I had no expectation that these people would ever be prosecuted," she said. "But the day has come. I wanted to come here and see the faces of the people that did such bad things to us."

This week's procedural hearings are expected to wrap up by Thursday, with the trial proper likely to start in September.

Author: Robert Carmichael
Editor: Anne Thomas