Khmer Newspaper: Khmer news| Cambodia education| Cambodian economy

Vann Nath, a Khmer Rouge prisoner who survived by painting portraits of Pol Pot, died in Phnom Penh on Monday, following an 11-day coma brought on by a heart attack, family members and health officials said. Vann Nath, who was born in 1946 into a poor family in Battambang province, survived the Khmer Rouge’s notorious Tuol Sleng prison and had been an ardent supporter of victims’ justice at the UN-backed tribunal.

Officials for Japan and France said Wednesday they want to see proceedings toward a trial of four Khmer Rouge leaders advance, with experts speculating a full trial won’t begin until next year.

The Voice of America said Thursday it was concerned that contempt of court proceedings against its Khmer-language service by the Khmer Rouge tribunal would create a “chilling effect” on local journalists trying to cover the UN-backed court. The tribunal’s investigating judges said Wednesday they had begun proceedings against the service for interference with the administration of justice, after VOA Khmer broadcast and published a series of interviews with three suspects in two controversial cases at the court, directly quoting confidential documents submitted by the prosecution in November 2008. “Anyone intending further disclosure of confidential court documents is hereby warned that his case could be transferred to the National Prosecutor,” an unsigned statement from the judges’ office said

The world is watching as citizens in some Middle Eastern countries seek justice against recently toppled leaders of sometimes brutal governments. In Cambodia, the reign of the Maoist Khmer Rouge ended decades ago, but efforts to bring those responsible to justice continue. Three of those facing prosecution may finally face justice after many years in the Khmer Rouge tribunals

Investigating judges at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal have begun contempt of court proceedings against VOA Khmer, which they said in a statement Wednesday had interfered with the court’s work by making public the contents of confidential court documents. In August, VOA Khmer ran a series of interviews with three suspects named by court prosecutors in confidential submissions that had earlier been made public by international media outlets, including the US-based Christian Science Monitor and a New Zealand website called Scoop. In the interviews, three suspects, Ta An, Im Chaem and Meas Muth denied responsibility for atrocity crimes

Vann Nath, a painter who survived imprisonment at a notorious Khmer Rouge torture center and was a dogged activist for the rights of victims at the UN-backed tribunal, fell into a coma Friday night, family members and health officials said. Vann Nath, who is 66, remains at La Sante Hemodialysis Center in Phnom Penh, where family members are watching over his him. He suffered an apparent heart attack Friday night

Court sources and observers in Cambodia say the genocide trial of four surviving Khmer Rouge is now likely to be delayed, yet again. That follows an acknowledgment by the Khmer Rouge tribunal that one of the defendants requires psychiatric tests to determine her fitness to stand trial.

Two jailed Khmer Rouge leaders are expected to appear before tribunal judges later this month, to discuss their health difficulties in the face of an impending atrocity crimes trial. Nuon Chea, who is now 85 and was the chief ideologue of the regime, and Ieng Thirith, 79, the former social affairs minister, will go before the Trial Chamber. Two other leaders, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary, will not appear, as they have not filed against upcoming hearings on account of health

Lawyers for ethnic Khmer Kampuchea Krom victims of the Khmer Rouge say the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal has failed to include an extermination site in the scope of its investigations. The Khmer Krom, who are a minority Khmer ethnic group living in today’s Vietnam and the Mekong Delta, were singled out for killing by the regime for being culturally tied to Vietnam. Lawyers for Khmer Krom civil party applicants said investigating judges failed to release information on the Bakan execution site in Pursat province when they released details of their work earlier this week