'Duch on Trial' is a weekly TV programme broadcast in Cambodia which provides a summary of that week's developments in the on-going trial of Kaing Guek Eav (aka Duch), the head of the notorious torture prison Tuol Sleng (or S21) which operated during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Duch is being tried by a joint UN-Cambodian tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), which was established to prosecute the senior members of the regime.

'Duch on Trial' seeks to explain the legal proceedings taking place at the ECCC to an ordinary, rural Cambodian audience, who otherwise would have little access to information on the trial. The programme is produced by a local television production company, Khmer Mekong Films, and is broadcast on the national Cambodian Television Network (CTN) to an audience of over 2 million. The impact that the programmes have had locally was highlighted in an article in the Phnom Penh Post published in July 2009, and in Time magazine.

Funding

The programme is financed with funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office through the British Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Initially funding was allocated for the first 8 weeks of the trial, however, the success of the show has led to further funding being provided by the FCO that should allow the programme to continue broadcasting for the duration of Duch's trial.

The programme is made in collaboration with the East-West Center, the UC Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center and the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Videos

The 9th programme in the series can be viewed, in 3 parts, below. This programme was first broadcast on CTN on 29 June 2009.

• Part one - includes coverage of the prosecution cross-examining Duch - at one point the prosecution show a photo of a young mother and baby who were killed at Tuol Sleng and ask the defendant how he could have considered them to be the enemy.
• Part two - the role of the defence lawyer is explained, and footage is shown to the court by Duch's defence team of the remorse shown by Duch during a visit he made to Tuol Sleng in February 2008.
• Part three - in the final part of the programme, Duch has spotted the daughter of one of the Tuol Sleng victims in the court-room. The judges refuse his request to directly address her from the witness box. At the ECCC, the victims of those who suffered under the Khmer Rouge regime,including family members of those killed, have the opportunity to participate directly in the court proceedings as Civil Parties.

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