Cambodia judge transfer 'politically motivated': UN

A joint statement from two United Nations' envoys in Phnom Penh says the transfer of a key judge from Cambodia's genocide tribunal is politically motivated.

You Bunleng, one of the court's co-investigating judges, was appointed head of Cambodia's Appeal Court, forcing him to quit the UN-backed tribunal intended to prosecute those behind one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.

He had been seen as crucial to determining which suspects would go on trial.

The UN officials, rights envoy Yash Ghai and legal expert Leandro Despouy, says the replacement ... was done at the request of the executive branch of government in contravention of the separation of executive and judicial powers specified in the constitution.

Their comments come a day after the UN officially asked Cambodia to re-think the move.

It has also questioned Cambodia's judicial independence, saying international standards will be impossible to meet given the evidence of meddling in the country's courts.

You Bunleng's departure comes at a crucial time during which he and his international counterpart, Marcel Lemonde of France, were investigating the first cases filed by prosecutors over crimes committed by the 1975-1979 regime.