Cambodia Rejects U.N. Plan for War Crimes Trials

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia —  Cambodia’s foreign minister rejected Wednesday a U.N. plan for war crimes trials, and parliament voted to allow genocide trials to be delayed by up to three years.

Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong said a U.N. proposal that foreign judges hold a majority on a tribunal that would include Cambodian jurists threatened Cambodia’s sovereignty.

Apparently worried about Cambodia’s corrupt, often politically influenced courts, the United Nations proposed that a majority of foreign judges serve on whatever panel is created.

Also, as widely anticipated, the National Assembly extended the pretrial detention period for suspects in genocide cases. Currently, suspects of any crime must be tried within six months of being charged.