'Crush! Crush! Crush!': Towards a Finished Story of Pol Pot's Trial and Death?

Benzaquen-Gautier, Stéphanie

Abstract

To this day, the trial of Pol Pot in July 1997 in Anlong Veng remains an underexplored topic, possibly because it is seen as a parody of justice organised by a rival Khmer Rouge faction. Images of the event show an old and fragile man who has to be supported by guards to the meeting hall. Drawing on anthropologist Ashley Thompson's study of the 'substitute body of the king' , the paper examines the corporeal strategies at play in the trial and in the display and cremation of Pol Pot's body in April 1998. Using a range of materials (articles in media, pictures, videos, and artworks), it brings into conversation 'forensic aesthetics' , performance theory, and contemporary visual arts to investigate the role of Pol Pot's body as a political tool in the troubled context of post-transition Cambodia.

Citation

Benzaquen-Gautier, S. (2021). 'Crush! Crush! Crush!': Towards a Finished Story of Pol Pot's Trial and Death?. International Criminal Law Review, 22(1-2), 261-278. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718123-bja10099

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 16, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Oct 15, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Deposit Date: Nov 16, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 16, 2021
• Journal: International Criminal Law Review
• Print ISSN: 1567-536X
• Electronic ISSN: 1571-8123
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 261-278
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15718123-bja10099
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/6726127
• Publisher URL: https://brill.com/view/journals/icla/22/1-2/article-p261_261.xml