MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – Two former Khmer Rouge leaders were jailed for life in a ruling by a Cambodian court, Agence France-Presse reported Thursday.
Eightly-eight year-old Nuon Chea and 83-year-old former head of state Kheiu Samphan were found “guilty of the crimes against humanity, of extermination … political persecution and other inhumane acts," AFP quoted Judge Nil Nonn as saying.
Their lawyers said they would appeal, but a judge insisted that the convicted should remain in detention until the judgment is final.
Prosecutors have sought extreme penalties for the defendants, arguing that they played “key roles” in the Khmer Rouge regime.
Today’s ruling followed a two-year trial, bringing relief to anyone who survived the Khmer Rouge years.
However, many victims fear that the ageing Khmer Rouge leaders may not survive much of their sentence, especially as some have already died.
Khmer Rouge’s leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998 at the age of 73 and military commander Ta Mok died in 2006 while awaiting court trial.
Khmer Rouge was the name given to the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia, which ruled the country from 1975 until 1979.
During the Khmer Rouge regime, which sought to create an agrarian society, people were pushed to work on rural cooperatives, often to their death. As the Cambodian economy imploded, many people starved. The party’s leaders tortured and killed anyone whom they saw as enemies: former officials, minorities and intellectuals.
More than 1.7 million people died under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, whose leaders were later accused of genocide.
