PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Three and a half decades after the genocidal rule of Cambodias Khmer Rouge ended, a U.N.-backed tribunal on Thursday sentenced two top leaders of the former regime to life in prison for crimes against humanity during the countrys 1970s terror period that left close to 2 million people dead. The historic verdicts were announced against Khieu Samphan, the regimes 83-year-old former head of state, and Nuon Chea, its 88-year-old chief ideologue - the only two surviving leaders of the regime left to stand trial. The tribunals chief judge Nil Nonn asked both men to rise for the verdicts but the frail Nuon Chea, wearing dark sunglasses, said he was too weak to stand from his wheelchair and was allowed to remain seated. Nil Nonn said both men were guilty of extermination encompassing murder, political persecution, and other inhumane acts comprising forced transfer, enforced disappearances and attacks against human dignity. There was no visible reaction from either of the accused, both of whom have denied wrongdoing. The rulings can be appealed, but Nil Nonn told the court that given the gravity of the crimes both would remain in detention.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 07:03:45 +0000
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