ECCC dismisses case against former Khmer Rouge Comrade Yim Tith

 

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea 

The Supreme Court Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on December 28, 2021  dismissed the International Co-Prosecutor’s request to send Case 004 against Yim Tith to trial related 

This follows last week’s dismissal of a case against a Khmer Rouge Commander Meas Muth.

 The Chamber unanimously determined that the “International Co-Prosecutor’s Appeal of the Pre-Trial Chamber’s failure to send Case 004 to trial as required by the ECCC legal framework” was admissible in the interests of justice.  

According to ECCC’s  document,  Yim Tith, also known as Ta Tith, was accused of genocide of the Khmer Krom people and crimes against humanity in case 004, which judges have been working on for more than eight years.  

The tribunal confirmed the conclusion of judicial investigations against Tith for alleged crimes committed between April 1975 and January 1979. 

The investigation against another suspect in Case 004, Ao An, was split off to create Case 004/02. 

Ao An was charged with premeditated homicide and crimes against humanity, including the genocide of the Cham ethnic minority, but died in November 2020.

  
References of the story: 

Today, the Supreme Court Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) dismissed the International Co-Prosecutor’s request to send Case 004 against YIM Tith to trial. 

By unanimity, the Chamber determined that the “International Co-Prosecutor’s Appeal of the Pre-Trial Chamber’s failure to send Case 004 to trial as required by the ECCC legal framework” was admissible in the interests of justice.  The application was considered by the majority of the Chamber which provided “legal clarity and certainty and: 

1.Rejected the International Co-Prosecutor’s view that Case 004 be sent to trial, noting that the Co-Investigating Judges and the Pre-Trial Chamber did not issue an Indictment in compliance with Internal Rule 79(1) against YIM Tith;

2.Confirmed that the Pre-Trial Chamber concluded Case 004 when it issued its Considerations; and

3.Clarified that Case 004 is terminated in the absence of a definitive and enforceable indictment. 

In her dissenting opinion, Judge Maureen Harding Clark concluded that “the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision has no validity and ought be quashed for its irrationality […]” and proceedings against YIM Tith should be terminated. 

The decision is available on the ECCC website: 

https://eccc.gov.kh/sites/default/files/documents/courtdoc/%5Bdate-in-tz%5D/2_1_1_1_EN.PDF

 This press release is disseminated by the Public Affairs Section under internal Rules 9(4) and 21(c) to provide information to the public.

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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