| By Stéphanie Gée | | | 29-04-2009 |  Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia,). 28/04/2009: Kar Savuth, Defence Lawyer, will take over from François Roux as of tomorrow. ©John Vink/ Magnum Debates on the thirteenth day of the trial of Duch were again studded with concern over translation. Part of the interrogation of the accused regarding the creation of S-21 – the centre became fully operational in October 1975 - was even obscured by co-Prosecutors. As for the Parties, they expressed their impatience about having at last the Trial Chamber come to a decision regarding certain matters mentioned right at the beginning of the trial. A feeling of disorganisation sometimes pervades during hearings and will probably stretch over a good few months.
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| By Stéphanie Gée | | | 28-04-2009 |  Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), 27/04/2009. Press room on the 12th day of Kaing Guek Eav trial at the ECCC.
©John Vink/ Magnum
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| By Stéphanie Gée | | | 23-04-2009 |  Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 23/04/2009: Villagers from Kampong Speu province visiting the ECCC. They live near M13, the antechamber to the S-21 interrogation centre. ©John Vink/ Magnum
On Thursday April 23rd, the courtroom was packed as some 250 villagers came to attend the hearing. They live in the Omlieng commune, where the M-13 centre, formerly directed by Duch, was located, and were taken to Phnom Penh by the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam). Also, about sixty inhabitants living on the outskirts of Phnom Penh were there, taken to the tribunal by the ECCC (Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) Public Affairs Section and fifty students from the private Build Bright University (BBU) also came to watch. The hearing, which only took place in the morning, started late and was slowed down by the search for sorting marks on documents but Duch, the accused, began mentioning the early stages of S-21, where more than 15,000 people lost their lives.
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| By Stéphanie Gée | | | 23-04-2009 |  Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 21/04/2009: Simultaneous translation earphones at the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, at the ECCC. ©John Vink, with the help of Stéphanie Gée
The trial of Duch is now entering its third week and the problem of simultaneous translations, sometimes uncertain during the hearings - it is to be reminded that the court operates in three languages: Khmer, English and French - was at last brought to the fore via an initiative of the Defence. After an interesting debate over the question of the admissibility of documents presented before the Trial Chamber and the outstanding revelations made by Duch regarding the conditions in which he was interviewed by a UN representative, the M-13 chapter is finally closed. By the end of the day, the core of the case was eventually reached - the S-21 centre - with, for starters, a look back on the establishment of the death machine in August 1975.
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| By Stéphanie Gée | | | 21-04-2009 |  Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 21/04/2009: Heavy rainfall interrupted the hearing on the 9th day of the Duch trial at the ECCC. ©John Vink/ Magnum
Tuesday April 21st marked the ninth day of the trial of Duch, while a feeling of stalemate somehow pervaded the hearing over the mentioning of the M-13 security centre. The day was generally chaotic and summed up hopes that the trend would change rather sooner than later, that translation issues would be tackled during the hearing and things would at last get to the heart of the matter, in other words S-21. Witness and former guard at M-13 Chan Khan seemed more relaxed than he was the day before, but the audience saw all sorts of happenings in the courtroom. Indeed, a Civil Party lawyer turned up and asked to go back to the very beginning of the story, another Civil Party lawyer was snubbed for not respecting a decision of the pre-Trial Chamber, judges were commanded by parties to do their job and a deafening thunderstorm beat down on the premises of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), thus leading debates nowhere and causing a short recess in the hearing.
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