Tribunal Prosecutors to Host Seminar

Tribunal prosecutors Chea Leang and Robert Petit will host a seminar in November with other international war crimes prosecutors, to discuss issues likely to come up as trials of Khmer Rouge leaders progress.

The seminar will gather international legal experts from the UN and the Hague and tribunals from Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

"The prosecutors will use this colloquium to continue to ensure that those responsible for violating the most fundamental rights of humankind are brought to justice, regardless of when and where the atrocities occurred," a tribunal statement said.

The discussion will provide greater understanding of issues that will face tribunal prosecutors, said Long Panhavuth, a program officer at the Open Society Justice Initiative, an independent organization aiding the tribunal.

The seminar would provide "the opportunity to learn more regarding the progress or problems faced by the international criminal court," he told VOA Khmer Tuesday.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the seminar would help the state of law and the judicial system in Cambodia, through "sharing experiences with each other, among national and international prosecutors."

Khmer Rouge tribunal prosecutors are so far facing cases for Kaing Khek Iev, alias Duch, and chief ideologue of the regime, Nuon Chea, whose lawyers said Tuesday they plan to issue a petition for his release ahead of trial.