Civil Parties Reminded to Focus Testimony on Relevant Facts

The court began by acknowledging the progress it has made in the past week in the trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch). Accordingly, the chamber announced that it planned to hear the final civil party testimonies today, followed by expert witness testimony tomorrow on the issue of civil party claims for reparation. The chamber will then spend approximately two days to hear the defense challenges of civil party applications. Finally, it will receive testimony relating to the character of the accused before scheduling closing statements.

Today’s proceedings did not progress as quickly as anticipated due in large part to civil parties straying from relevant facts during their testimonies. Pursuant to the Internal Rules, they were instructed to testify to specific physical, material, or psychological injury sustained as a direct consequence of the crimes of the accused. This typically involves establishing a family link between the civil party and a victim of Tuol Sleng prison (S-21). The judges as well as the attorneys are cognizant of the fact that a major purpose of civil party participation in these proceedings is to help them deal with their tragic losses. Therefore, the judges have refrained from interrupting civil party testimonies throughout the past week even when they ran longer than the time allotted. While civil parties in the past week have certainly strayed from relevant facts on occasion, today they did so over prolonged periods. This prompted numerous requests from the President that the civil parties refocus their testimony and it slowed down the overall progress of today’s session.

The chamber also informed the public that civil party lawyer Silke Studzinsky was hospitalized this weekend and likely will be absent from the courtroom for an extended period. The other civil party lawyers will cooperate and coordinate as much as possible to enable to the trial to proceed expeditiously…

Read more: ctm_blog_8-24-2009