Cambodia: U.N. Assails Rejection of Khmer Rouge Tribunal Judge

By REUTERS
Published: January 21, 2012

The United Nations on Friday deplored Cambodia’s decision to reject the choice of a new judge from Switzerland to a court trying former Khmer Rouge leaders, and called on the government to appoint him immediately.

The decision by Cambodia’s Supreme Council of the Magistracy not to appoint Laurent Kasper-Ansermet as a joint investigating judge was “a matter of serious concern,” a United Nations statement said, and was a breach of a 2003 agreement between Cambodia and the United Nations on prosecuting former Khmer Rouge officials.

The United Nations had appointed Judge Kasper-Ansermet to replace a German judge who resigned in October from the joint United Nations-Cambodian tribunal because of what he said was interference by the Cambodian government.