The Khmer Rouge tribunal last Friday officially accepted the results of a medical examination of its two defendants – Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan – saying in a pair of filings that the octogenarians were “capable of meaningful participation in [their] own defence and [are] therefore fit to stand trial”.

Though neither defence team had asserted their clients to be unfit, both had maintained that the defendants had trouble concentrating for the full duration of a typical court day, a finding the medical experts who examined them contested.

In the interest of mitigating the effects of the defendants’ medical conditions, the trial chamber said that it would order the implementation of the medical, therapeutic and, in the case of Chea, dietary suggestions of the experts, and would take into account the teams’ submissions when scheduling hearings in the upcoming Case 002/02.