Witness Oeun Tan, Former Bodyguard of Pol Pot, Begins Testimony Before the Chamber

by Kelley Dupre Andrews, JD/LLM (International Human Rights) candidate, Class of 2015, Northwestern University School of Law
— 13 Jun, 2012

Witness Oeun Tan, former bodyguard of Pol Pot, began testimony Wednesday, June 13, 2012, at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) as evidentiary hearings continued in Case 002 against accused Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, and Ieng Sary.

Accused Ieng Sary, however, was absent from the courtroom, having received permission to participate remotely from his holding cell on account of his poor health.

Over 300 villagers poured into the public gallery a few minutes after 9:00 a.m., distracting members of the Chamber who had begun proceedings a few minutes before. The villagers had just arrived from Svay Rieng province, a small region in southeastern Cambodia that juts into neighboring Vietnam. Once settled in their seats, however, they remained fully absorbed for the remainder of the morning’s proceedings.

The afternoon session was again graced with the attendance of another group of orange-clad monks. One hundred students from the Cambodian University of Sciences joined them in the public gallery…

Read more: CTM_Blog_6-13-12

Cambodia Tribunal Monitor’s Trial Observer posts are written according to the personal observations and opinions of the writer and do not constitute a transcript of ECCC proceedings or the views of Cambodia Tribunal Monitor and/or its partners. Official court transcripts for the ECCC’s hearings may be accessed at the ECCC website.