JURIST - Paper Chase: Khmer Rouge war crimes suspect will no longer cooperate with ECCC: lawyer

[JURIST] Former Cambodian head of state Khieu Samphan [JURIST news archive] is ending his cooperation with the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website], Khieu Samphan's lawyer told the Cambodia Daily in a Wednesday report. Khieu Samphan was arrested [JURIST report] by the ECCC in November 2007 upon being released from the hospital where he was receiving treatment after suffering a stroke [NYT report]. Khieu Samphan's French lawyer, Jacques Verges [BBC profile], said that he his client would not speak with court officials until court documents and pages of evidence against his client are translated into French. AFP has more.

Khieu Samphan was the fifth senior Khmer Rouge [JURIST news archive] leader to be detained by the ECCC when he was arrested last year. The Khmer Rouge is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians [PPU backgrounder] who died between 1975 and 1979. The ECCC was established by a 2001 law [text as amended 2005, PDF] to investigate and try surviving Khmer Rouge officials, but to date, no top officials have faced trials.

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