Use of Twitter by judge draws flak

Courting trouble

 Controversial tweets by a Khmer Rouge tribunal judge have inflamed a damaging public spat between the UN and Cambodia and raised questions over how Twitter is used in the courts.

Laurent Kasper-Ansermet has angered Phnom Penh by using the micro-blogging site to draw attention to the court’s much-criticised handling of two possible new Khmer Rouge crimes against humanity cases.

Cambodia, which opposes prosecutions beyond two initial trials, has refused to endorse him as a new investigating judge, effectively halting new work at the UN-backed court, which was set up to seek justice for the deaths of up to two million people during the regime’s 1975-79 rule.

“Does my known determination to investigate cases three and four explain the opposition by some to my official nomination?,” said the Swiss judge in a January 15 tweet in French after hearing his appointment had been rejected.