PHNOM PENH: Defence lawyers for two ex-Khmer Rouge leaders said yesterday they would boycott a new genocide trial until they appealed the pair’s earlier conviction, in a move which threatens to delay an already lengthy case.
In August Nuon Chea, 88, known as “Brother Number Two,” and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan, 83, were given life sentences for crimes against humanity after their first trial at Cambodia’s UN-backed court.
That ruling saw them become the first top figures to be jailed from a regime responsible for the deaths of up to two million Cambodians from 1975-1979.
Both men lodged appeals against the convictions last month but their lawyers said yesterday they needed time to file the full appeal documents.
“As long as we have not filed appeal brief, we won’t be able to attend” further hearings, said Anta Guisse, Khieu Samphan’s lawyer, after a press conference in Phnom Penh.
Nepal trekkers safe: Officials
KATHMANDU: All trekkers left stranded by a major snowstorm in Nepal’s Himalayas are safe, officials said yesterday, with the focus now shifting to the recovery of bodies four days after the disaster killed at least 32 people.
Nepalese army choppers circled the upper reaches of the popular Annapurna Circuit trekking region to locate bodies, while officials flew in a team of experts from Kathmandu to assist with retrieval.
Tuesday’s unseasonal storm, which hit at the height of the trekking season triggering avalanches, caught hikers unaware on their way up to an exposed high mountain pass, and killed at least 17 tourists.
“We understand that all remaining trekkers in the region are safe,” said Binay Acharya of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN), an industry body organising rescue efforts.
Japan minister to quit over scandal
TOKYO: Japan’s newly appointed trade and industry minister plans to resign following reports that some of her support groups misused political funds, Japanese media said yesterday.
Yuko Obuchi, the 40-year-old daughter of a former premier, has told people close to Abe that she plans to resign and take responsibility for a furore she caused, the Nikkei newspaper said, without citing any sources.
“What I have to do right now is to conduct a thorough investigation into the political funding issue,” Obuchi told reporters yesterday, when asked whether she intended to quit.
Obuchi also said she did not plan to meet the prime minister yesterday, when he was due to return from an Asia-Europe summit in Italy.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tapped Obuchi, a telegenic mother of two young children, less than two months ago to head the powerful METI.
She was one of five women Abe chose in a cabinet reshuffle in an effort to bolster his popularity by showing his commitment to promoting women. Agencies
