TEMPO.CO, Phnom Penh - A United Nations-backed tribunal in Cambodia has sentenced two former Khmer Rouge leaders to a life in prison for crimes against humanity related to their role in the country's 1970s terror.
The verdict that was delivered on Thursday, was a follow up to a two-year trial of Nuon Chea and former head of state Khieu Samphan, the most senior surviving former Khmer Rouge officials. They were accused of playing key roles in a regime that oversaw the deaths of two million people during the "Killing Fields" era from 1975 to 1979.
Both leaders were charged for sadistic murder charges towards their own people. Victims were executed because they were deemed an enemy of the state or left to starve until they die due to forced labor.
Nuon Chea, 88, wearing his trademark sunglasses, sat in a wheelchair in the dock next to Khieu Samphan, 83, as proceedings got under way.
The tribunal's chief judge Nil Nonn finally asked both men to rise for the verdicts as the judge said both men were found guilty of crimes against humanity, forced transfers, forced disappearances and attacks against human dignity.
AL JAZEERA | BBC | CHOIRUL
