National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh criticized the government’s proposal to use RCAF headquarters as a possible site for the Khmer Rouge tribunal, saying a different location was needed to ensure “a true international standard of justice.”
“For me, any place outside the military barracks must be better,” he told reporters Wednesday outside the Assembly. “Any court must be held in an environment where witnesses don’t feel any pressure.”
The final decision will be left up to the UN and the government’s tribunal task force, he added.
Speaking by telephone Wednesday, Sean Visoth, the government’s tribunal task force secretary, said officials were still waiting on the UN’s final approval of the proposed location.
“I am not sure if the UN Secretariat has agreed to this site or not,” he said.
The new RCAF base in Kandal province could intimidate potential witnesses or regular citizens who want to attend the trials, Licadho President Kek Galabru said Wednesday.
Motorbike taxi driver Var Phum, 39, agreed.
“It is good for the country in poverty, but it is not good to do the trial in a military place,” he said of the government’s argument that holding the tribunal in the military base could save up to $1 million.
(Additional reporting by Corinne Purtill)
