No Film?

The defense opposed the screening of footage shot by the advancing Vietnamese troops on the grounds that it was "political motivated" and designed to "disguise the truth of the event". It is difficult to imagine that footage of any type would be capable of doing anything of the kind unless of course the defense insinuates that the footage is a fabrication, from start to finish. In this case the defense would have us believe that there was a Vietnamese plan to smear the regime of Democratic Kampuchea by strewing bloated bodies around the prison compound of S-21. This, however, is far from impossible as history is familiar with fabrications far more sophisticated than what seems to be at hand here. However, defense arguments to exclude this footage on the grounds of "political motivation" are not likely to work in future proceedings. The defense therefore will do well if it finds evidence of Vietnamese intent to tamper with what is now a major crime scene in Kaing Guek Iev's case in general and create fake footage in particular.