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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.

A judge at the United Nations-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia has criticized media coverage of the ongoing war crimes trials after a series of reports that contained leaked confidential information. A Supreme Court Chamber Judge for the Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia had harsh words late Thursday for the media’s coverage of its proceedings. The tribunal last year sentenced one former Khmer Rouge leader for crimes committed in the late 1970s and is in the process of trying four most senior leaders in a second case.

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

A medical expert at the Khmer Rouge tribunal said Tuesday that jailed former leader Ieng Thirith is suffering from “serious” mental health issues that prevent her from fully taking part in an atrocity crimes trial. The court is holding three days of hearings to determine the fitness of three former leaders later this year or into the next

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.

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.

Judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal have determined that an appeal over the continued investigation of a controversial case at the UN-backed court can be made public. The appeal, which was made by international prosecutor Andrew Cayley earlier this year, calls for investigating judges to do more work in Case 003, in which two Khmer Rouge commanders are accused of atrocity crimes.

Cambodia’s illiteracy rate remains high, contributing to uninformed citizens and a lack of development, two Cambodian writers said Monday. “The majority of the illiterate are poor,” Pal Vannariraks, who has written novels, poems and other works, told “Hello VOA” Monday.

In an exclusive interview, Ta An, a former Khmer Rouge commander whose name is among those up for investigation by the Khmer Rouge tribunal, denied overseeing atrocities of the regime and said he is practicing Buddhism and good deeds to pay for past sins. Ta An is among three former cadre cited by prosecutors at the UN-backed court as worthy of indictments under controversial Case 004, which is opposed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and is currently in the hands of the court’s investigating judges