Ieng Sary's Defense Fumbles Again

On top of the earlier articulated arguments around the pardon issued to Ieng Sary by King Norodom Sihanouk (see posts below) and Ieng's defense's clumsy legal theories about how such pardon can help him now, the defense team decided to add yet another dimension to them. Yesterday, the team's international lawyer, Michael Karnavas, put forward a theory based on a belief that if Ieng is now prosecuted, "it could lead to war again". Perhaps, Ieng's defense team knows something the rest of us don't or, perhaps, it has done groundbreaking research which shows -- something that no prior research has shown to date -- that there are former Khmer Rouge who are willing to take up arms against government, if Ieng is prosecuted. If such research is indeed available, the defense team should have made a clear reference to it at the hearing. If not, theories of this type are a complete waste of the court's time and Western and Northeast Asian taxpayers' money. It is important to note, however, that whatever such research might be for it to work for Ieng's defense team's purposes, it will have to show that a movement betrayed by its top leaders -- besides Ta Mok who never defected and was instead captured and Pol Pot who died -- which has been defunct for at least 10 years will have the gall, external support and, most important, the intent to try to defend Ieng against the mightiest grip on political power Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has ever had. It would have to be some research and Ieng's defense team had better produce it to save whatever there is left to be saved of the team's credibility.