Khmer Rouge Tribunal asks for US$50 million for 2008-2009

The Mekong Times
Monday, June 23, 2008

The UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) has announced it will split its request for additional funding into three stages, with the first stage — from 2008-2009 — to cost donors US$50 million.

The UN side of the court needs US$40 million of this first phase amount, which will cover from this year until December 2009, with the court's Cambodian side to gain the rest.

Sean Visoth, director of the KRT's Office of Administration, told the Voice of America (VOA) in an interview last weekend that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) had asked the donors for this amount during meetings held last week in New York.

Sean Visoth said that the KRT delegation first met with key donors France, Japan, Australia and Great Britain June 16 and with more interested nations June 20. The meetings enabled donors to hear the court's revised budget request, he added.

Sean Visoth claimed that the "first phase" of funding will cover only the trial of the five former KR members currently detained by the court, not additional suspects who are yet to be named.

The funds are urgently needed as the court speeds up efforts to try the ailing KR leaders, who frequently require medical treatment.

Donors have not yet responded to the request, but the KRT will hold a press conference June 24 to publicize the results of the meetings.

The KRT's Cambodian side received a donation of nearly US$3 million from the Japanese government June 19. The Cambodian government is expected to contribute more than US$1 million to the court's revised budget plan, Sean Visoth said.

Extracted from the The Mekong Times
Issue No. 95
Monday, June 23, 2008