Facing Justice – Episode 54 (broadcast 7 November 2018)

‘Facing Justice’ has returned to Cambodian TV screens, and to YouTube!

This is the 54th episode in a series of weekly TV reports about the proceedings in the second trial in the second case before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), or Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT). The episode was first broadcast on CTN and MyTV on Tuesday 7 November 2018.

This first episode recaps the proceedings before the ECCC up to this point in Cases 001 and 002/01, and it addresses the question of why a second trial in Case 002 was necessary. Next week’s episode will go into more detail summarizing the testimony heard in Case 002/02.

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A total of six new episodes (Episodes 54-59) of ‘Facing Justice‘ have been sponsored by the British Embassy in Cambodia in preparation for in response to the announcement of the trial judgment in Case 002/02 scheduled for Friday 16 November 2018. The episodes are produced by Khmer Mekong Films with editorial partner Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University.

In this new batch of 6 weekly episodes, ‘Facing Justice’ covers the announcement of the trial judgment in Case 002/02 at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the second and final trial against the surviving Democratic Kampuchea senior leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan.

The six new episodes will air weekly on Cambodia’s top TV channels CTN and MYTV every Tuesday evening in November and December 2018.

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The trial, held under the auspices of the ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia), has taken place in a courtroom just outside Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.

The court is a hybrid tribunal which applies both International and Cambodian law to try the alleged crimes of the defendants – Nuon Chea (‘Brother Number Two’), Khieu Samphan (Head of State). Ieng Thirith (Social Affairs Minister) was declared unfit to stand trial early in the proceedings. Ieng Sary (Foreign Minister) ,who was also facing charges, died in 2013.

‘Facing Justice’, shown on Cambodia’s top TV channels (CTN and MyTV), presents a summary of the courtroom’s highlights. In addition, the show provides straightforward explanations to help its 85% rural audience understand the complex legal issues likely to arise as this important trial proceeds.

Partners in the project include Khmer Mekong Films and the Asian International Justice Initiative (AIJI), a joint project of the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the WSD HANDA Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University.

Previous sponsors of ‘Facing Justice’ were USAID, the US Department of State, and the German Embassy in Phnom Penh.

‘Time for Justice’, programs covering Case 001 – the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch (in charge of the Khmer Rouge S-21 interrogation center), was covered by 28 similar TV programs, sponsored by the British Embassy, Phnom Penh.