Ta Mok’s attorney said Tuesday that he sent a letter to Cambodian officials in New York, requesting they remember him as they negotiate the makeup—and the budget—of a tribunal of former Khmer Rouge leaders.
“We’ve done a lot of work already preparing Ta Mok’s case. But nobody has given me a penny yet,” said Benson Samay, attorney for the now-imprisoned guerrilla commander.
The letter, addressed to Minister of Cabinet Sok An, requests money to pay defense lawyers and support staff from the investigative stage through the end of the trial. Sok An is a key member of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s entourage that is expected to travel today from Cuba to New York, where they will meet UN officials about the tribunal’s makeup. Hun Sen also is expected to address the UN General Assembly.
“I humbly suggest that making such a request would strengthen Cambodia’s presentations [to the UN],” wrote Benson Samay in the Sept 7 letter.
But government and CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the request is premature.
“We have to settle on the procedure before we can talk about money,” he said, referring to talks over what kind of court shoud try those responsible for the more than 1 million deaths of the 1975-79 Pol Pot regime.
