Covering the tribunals

I have a story on Law.com’s new international page today.

I enjoyed getting the chance to write a longer piece about the tribunals and the insanity I witnessed at the post-trial press conference last week. Jacques Verges, egomaniac, thespian, and subject of last year’s documentary “Terror’s Advocate” delivered his trademark histrionics and managed to rouse victims close to violence. Among the outlandish quotes that didn’t make it into the story:


·“I do not wear the slippers of a servant.” (Jacques Verges, implying that the court has somehow belittled him.)

·“I have been trying all my life to work for my country and now things have worked out differently and I am being charged with crimes against humanity. I never understood why there are so many documents that implicate me. I asked the guards and they say it is because I have written so many books.” (Khieu Samphan, tribunal defendant and the Khmer Rouge’s former head-of-state.)

·“If there was no Pol Pot regime, I could be a lawyer or an economist like you all.” (Ly Monysak, a Khmer Rouge victim who resides in a mental institution.)

·“If things do not improve, I will call al Qaeda and ask them to come here and commit a terrorist attack.” (Monysak)

·“If I could tear him away and eat him and it wasn’t against the law, I would do so now. (Sok Chea, a Khmer Rouge victim, referring to Kheiu Samphan’s Cambodian lawyer, Sa Sovan.)

The anger exhibited at these hearings, stemming from more than 30 years of delayed justice and prodded by Verges, was both heart-wrenching and terrifying. The experience and the story hopefully helps prepare me to cover the tribunals for GlobalPost when it launches in January.