Defense Support Section Statement

Defence Support Section

PRESS STATEMENT

12 November 2007

Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith were arrested and brought before the ECCC on 12 November 2007. They met with the Defence Support Section in order to choose their Co-Lawyers.

Ieng Sary has selected a Cambodian lawyer, Mr Ang Udom, to represent him before the ECCC. From 1994 to 1997, Mr Ang worked as a criminal defence lawyer at the Cambodian Defenders Project and the Legal Aid of Cambodia. He has managed his own law firm since 1999 and, from 2006, has been Head of the Legal Unit at the Center for Social Development in Phnom Penh.

Mr Ieng has shortlisted two possible foreign Co-Lawyers and a final selection will be made this week.

Madame Ieng Thirith selected a Cambodian lawyer, Mr Phat Pouv Seang, to represent her before the ECCC. Since 1986, Mr Phat has been a professor at the Royal University of Law and Economics. Mr Phat has worked as a lawyer since 1997 dealing with numerous criminal cases and, from 2004, has also been a legal consultant to the National Assembly’s Legislative and Judiciary Committee.

Madame Ieng Thirith also selected Diana Ellis QC to be her foreign co-lawyer. Ms Ellis was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1978 and was appointed as Queen’s Counsel in 2001. She has wide experience in handling serious criminal trials. Notably, Ms Ellis was defence counsel for Ferdinand Nahimana at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was the first trial to take place before an international tribunal on charges relating to the role of the media in the commission of genocide.

Both charged persons have claimed that they do not have the means to pay for their Co-Lawyers. Therefore, their defence team will be funded through the ECCC’s Legal Assistance Scheme whilst this claim is being assessed.