Two Aging Khmer Rouge Leaders Convicted Of Crimes Against Humanity
Two Aging Khmer Rouge Leaders Convicted Of Crimes Against Humanity
Two Aging Khmer Rouge Leaders Convicted Of Crimes Against Humanity

Three and a half decades after the fall of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, 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 country's 1970s reign of terror that left close to 2 million people dead. The historic verdicts were announced against Khieu Samphan, the regime's 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 tribunal's 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.Emotional Scene Follows Khmer Rouge Guilty Verdicts ​ ​ A United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia has handed down long awaited guilty ...

They were leaders of Cambodia's infamous Khmer Rouge, the fanatical communist movement behind a 1970s reign of terror that transformed this entire ...

A United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia has handed down long-awaited guilty verdicts and life sentences for two aging leaders of the Khmer ...

The UN-backed tribunal opened a landmark case against three Khmer Rouge leaders in Phnom Penh on Monday, with prosecution claiming the former ...