Cambodia Hybrid Court Arrests Khmer Rouge Head of State

The hybrid war crimes court in Cambodia, which is known as the “Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia” (or ECCC) has arrested one of its biggest defendants yet: Former head of state Khieu Samphan during the Khmer Rouge era. (See Kevin’s list of likely defendants here).

And he is getting a true believer as his defense lawyer. His Paris lawyer Jacques Verges is a true believer in the Khmer Rouge’s innocence. He gained fame by defending some of the world’s most notorious figures including Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and the terrorist “Carlos the Jackal.” Verges wrote in the preface to Samphan’s 2004 memoirs that: “The Khmer Rouge leadership did not resort to persuasion but to coercion, and, eventually, crimes against human beings. Khieu Samphan never took a direct part in these crimes,”

So things are (finally) happening at the ECCC. Time is running out, though. The mandate for the ECCC runs out in 2009 and Samphan is 76. The clock is ticking…