French lawyer sworn in to defend former Khmer Rouge jailer at genocide trial

French lawyer sworn in to defend former Khmer Rouge jailer at genocide trial

The International Herald Tribune http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/08/asia/AS-GEN-Cambodia-Khmer-Rouge.php

The Associated Press

Published: August 8, 2007



PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A French lawyer who defended a terrorist convicted in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks was sworn in Wednesday to represent a former Khmer Rouge jailer in an upcoming Cambodian genocide trial, an official said.

The Cambodian Bar Association swore in Francois Roux at a ceremony Wednesday, making him the first foreigner officially allowed to practice law at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal, said Ly Tayseng, the association's secretary-general.

"Now he has the legal right to be an attorney at the tribunal after completing all legal requirements," Ly Tayseng said.

Roux, a human rights activist from France, is best known for being on the defense team of Zacarias Moussaoui, a Moroccan-born Frenchman convicted in a U.S. court of conspiring to commit terrorism and kill Americans in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

He has 30 years experience of practicing law and also defended four people accused of genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Kaing Guek Eav, the former Khmer Rouge prison chief now detained on crimes against humanity charges by the tribunal, selected Roux early this month to represent him along with a Cambodian attorney.

Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, is the first top Khmer Rouge figure to be indicted for offenses committed when the Khmer Rouge held power from 1975-79.

He headed a prison in Phnom Penh, where some 16,000 suspected enemies of the regime were tortured before being taken out and executed at a mass grave near the city. Only about a dozen prisoners are thought to have survived.

Some 1.7 million people died of hunger, disease, overwork and execution during the Khmer Rouge's rule.

Prosecutors have also sought indictments for four other senior Khmer Rouge leaders, but have not named them.

The tribunal is expected to start conducting trials early next year.

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