Ieng Thirith's British Lawyer Sworn In

Touch Yuthea
The Mekong Times
Wednesday, May 21, 2008


A British barrister represent­ing Ieng Thirith, who was social affairs minister dur­ing the Khmer Rouge (KR) regime, was officially sworn in yesterday.

Diana Ellis OC will have full rights to practise law according to the code of the Cambodian Bar Association (CBA) when she rep­resents Ieng Thirith at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) for her appeal against a provisional detention or­der today. Ellis wore a black gown and white wig, the formal attire for barristers when she was sworn in at the Appeals Court.

A hearing on Ieng Thirith's deten­tion is to begin today after being postponed in April.


After the director of the appeals court reviewed submitted docu­ments and listened to the argu­ments of representatives of the CBA in the hearing room, Appeals Court Judge Samrith Sophal authorized co-defense lawyer Ellis to represent Ieng Thirith at the KRT. Samrith Sophal recommended Ellis practice her profession "with ethics and dig¬nity" in line with the laws of the bar association.

"I was appreciative of the com¬ments made by the prosecutors and the judges. They treated me very nicely," Ellis said following the swearing-in ceremony. "They gave me good advice, ensuring that I familiarized myself with the system which poerates in Cambodia ... and they wished me well, which I appreciated."

Phat Pouv Seang, Cambodian co-defense lawyer for Ieng Thirith, at tended the swearing-in ceremony for Ellis. Afterwards, when a reporter asked him if his client had a chance of being released on bail, he said that he was ready to defend his client and a bail decision would be determined after the pre-trial chambers' hearing on the appeal case today.

Extracted from The Mekong Times
Issue No. 72
Wednesday, May 21, 2008