Two Khmer Rouge leaders were jailed for life yesterday after being found guilty of crimes against humanity, the first sentences against top figures of a regime responsible for the deaths of up to 2 million Cambodians.
Neither “Brother No. 2” Nuon Chea, 88, nor former head of state Khieu Samphan, 83, betrayed any hint of emotion as the sentences were handed down at Cambodia’s UN-backed tribunal, but outside the court on the outskirts of Phnom Penh regime survivors burst into applause, with many weeping after a 35-year wait for justice.
Judge Nil Nonn said the defendants, who are the most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders, were “guilty of the crimes against humanity of extermination... political persecution and other inhumane acts.”
Photo: Reuters
Their lawyers swiftly announced their intention to appeal the convictions, but the court earlier ruled the pair would remain in detention until a final judgement due to “the gravity of the crimes.”
Prosecutors had sought the maximum life terms for the men, who played key roles in a regime that left about a quarter of the country’s population dead during the “Killing Fields” era from 1975 to 1979.
Led by “Brother No. 1” Pol Pot, who died in 1998 without ever facing justice, the Khmer Rouge dismantled modern society in their quest for an agrarian utopia.
Regime atrocities affected virtually every family in Cambodia as Pol Pot’s peasant army — infamous for their red checkered scarves and dark clothing — slaughtered perceived enemies of the revolution, and emptied towns and cities at gunpoint to work in the fields.
The plan spectacularly backfired, leading to the collapse of the economy and mass starvation.
Nuon Chea, wearing his trademark sunglasses, sat in a wheelchair in the dock as the verdict was read, while Khieu Samphan stood impassive next to him.
Late in their two-year trial both men expressed remorse for the suffering the Khmer Rouge inflicted on Cambodia, but remained staunch in denying knowledge of its crimes at the time.
The ruling is likely to bring a level of relief to those who survived the Khmer Rouge years, which saw Cambodians wiped out by starvation, overwork, torture or execution by ruthless cadres.
“This is the justice that I have been waiting for these last 35 years,” said Khieu Pheatarak, one of about 900 Cambodians at the court to hear the verdict.
Pheatarak was among hundreds of thousands forced from their homes in the capital in 1975 by gun-toting cadres.
“I will never forget the suffering, but this is a great relief for me. It is a victory and an historic day for all Cambodians,” said the 70-year-old, who lost 20 family members, including her husband and five siblings, under the regime.
The complex case against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan was split into a series of smaller trials in 2011 for reasons including their advanced age and the large number of accusations.
Social justice campaigners welcomed the verdict as a clear sign to ordinary Cambodians that all are equal before the law.
It shows “that even people in very high positions of power are subject to the rule of law... even if it takes a very long time,” said Heather Ryan, a trial monitor at the Open Society Justice Initiative.
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)