National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh on Monday said parliament should “not go so fast” with a government draft law to try former Khmer Rouge leaders in a local court.
His comments came, however, as he also stated his general support of the government’s pledge to proceed without heavy involvement from the UN after Prime Minister Hun Sen met with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week in New York.
“Hun Sen called me from New York after the meeting,” said Prince Ranariddh, who returned on Monday from a trip to the Philippines. “I told him I do not oppose the three points that he presented to Kofi Annan.”
The “three points” were in a memo Hun Sen presented to Annan. According to the memo, the most UN involvement the government would allow is a local trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders with a minority of UN-appointed judges; the least, no UN involvement at all.
On a recent visit, Annan’s assistant for legal affairs, Ralph Zacklin, said the UN would accept nothing less than an international-style tribunal in Cambodia, but one outside existing courts with a majority of UN jurists.
Prince Ranariddh hinted that holding off on the government’s current draft to hold a local court might allow for compromise and a “Cambodian court with international character.”
