The Cambodian lawyer for Nuon Chea said Wednesday the detained Khmer Rouge ideologue had chosen foreign representation for his impending atrocity crimes trial.
Lawyer Son Arun said a Dutch attorney had been chosen, but he could not elaborate.
The bar associations of the UK and Netherlands declined to comment Wednesday, and calls to the Khmer Rouge tribunal's defense section were unsuccessful.
The selection of foreign representation is a significant step forward, as Nuon Chea, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, approaches trial.
Khieu Samphan, the nominal head of the Khmer Rouge, though not yet charged by the tribunal, has chosen a fiery French lawyer, Jacques Verges, who's know for grand gestures and sweeping counter-indictments of his clients' accusers.
The only other detained leader, Kaing Khek Iev, alias Duch, has chosen French lawyer Francois Roux, who represented US terror convict Zacarias Moussaoui and defendants before the international tribunal for Rwanda.
Meanwhile, Nuon Chea continues to read books on Buddhist philosophy and has access to a radio, listening, Son Arun said, to Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.