On December 17, 2013, a Public Village Forum (PVF) organized by the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) will be conducted to keep the public informed about and engaged in the accountability process. As it is a historic court and an ultimate goal is for justice to be achieved for the Cambodian population, DC-Cam seizes this opportunity and had begun a nation-wide conversation among the people on topics on justice, the rule of law, judicial independence and the nature of basic human rights. Given that the hearing of Case 002/01 was recently completed and the public is waiting for the opportunity to attend further hearing on Case 002/02, PVF was able to invite Ms. CHEA Leang and Mr. Nicholas Koumjian, both co-prosecutors at ECCC, to brief about the legal developments and answer the public's questions directly.

 

Agenda

 

1:30 – 2:00 500 villagers, students and teachers arrive

2:00 – 2:05 Commune official give a short opening speech of DC-Cam's Public Village Forum

2:05 – 2:10 A representative from DC-Cam stresses the importance of the forum and its objectives

2:10 – 3:50 Ms. Chea Leang and Mr. Nicholas Koumjian, both national and international co-prosecutors at ECCC, will give a presentation and answer questions from the public

3:50 – 3:55 Wrapping-up remark by DC-Cam representative

3:55 – 4:00 Commune official makes a closing remark

 

Biographies of Key Speakers

 

Ms. CHEA Leang

National Co-Prosecutor, ECCC

CHEA Leang (Cambodia) received her Master of Arts in Law from Martin Luther University in Germany in 1995. From 1996-2002 She began her legal career at the Ministry of Justice and became Deputy in the Training Office of Ministry of Justice, as well as a member of the legal committee to create the Cambodian Penal Code. She joined the Cambodian judiciary as a Prosecutor in the Appeals Court in 2002, taking part in trial at the Court of Appeals and inspecting prosecutors' work at provincial level. In 2009, she was appointed Prosecutor General of the Supreme Court, which is the highest prosecutorial position in Cambodia. She has received additional legal training in Denmark, Japan and The Hague. In addition to Khmer, she speaks German and English.

 

Mr. Nicholas Koumjian

International Co-Prosecutor, ECCC

Mr. Koumjian was Senior Appeals Counsel for the prosecution of the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He represented Abdallah Banda and Saleh Jerbo before the International Criminal Court in a case involving the situation in Darfur, and assisted victims from the Ivory Coast on a pro-bono basis. He was previously Principal Trial Attorney for the trial of Charles Taylor, headed the UN-funded Serious Crimes Unit in East Timor, and was a trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Before entering the international arena, Mr. Koumjian worked as a prosecutor in Los Angeles for twenty years.