Lawyers back strike at Cambodia war crimes court

About 20 Cambodian translators and interpreters walked out on March 4, refusing to return until they receive salaries that have gone unpaid by the cash-strapped court for the past three months.

Some have gone back to work but proceedings remain suspended until the rest end their action.

Lawyers for the civil parties -- representing the thousands of plaintiffs -- gave their "strong support" to the strikers, deepening fears of a longer delay that could mean the octogenarian defendants do not live to see justice.

The oldest of the trio, 87-year-old Ieng Sary, is in hospital after falling ill on the same day of the walkout with stomach problems -- the latest in a string of ailments.

About 270 Cambodian employees at the court, including drivers, prosecutors and judges, have not been paid since November.

International court staff are paid from a separate budget and have so far received their salaries on time.

In a statement the lawyers said they were confident that the rights of the local staff will be "respected... in the interest of the civil parties, the victims and beyond them the Cambodian people".

The tribunal has faced frequent cash shortages since it was set up in 2006 to try those deemed responsible for the deaths of up to two million people under the brutal communist Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

In late 2011 the court ran out of money to pay hundreds of local staff, but was bailed out by a cash injection from Japan.

The Cambodian side of the tribunal, whose top donors also include the European Union, Australia, France, Germany and Britain, urgently needs over $7 million to cover costs for 2013.

The court has also been hit by a string of high-profile resignations amid allegations of political meddling.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork or execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia during their 1975-79 rule.

"Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, one-time head of state Khieu Samphan, and former foreign minister Ieng Sary deny charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.