Profile of former Khmer Rouge President Khieu Samphan ahead of August 16 appeal hearing

Record ID: 1632075

  • Title: Profile of former Khmer Rouge President Khieu Samphan ahead of August 16 appeal hearing
  • Date: 11th August 2021
  • Summary: At a news conference after arriving in Phnom Penh, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea issued a public apology for the first time since the 1970s reign of terror. He, along with Nuon Chea, later returned to Pailin after it became clear the government might not protect them from trial. PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (FILE - DECEMBER 29, 1998) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF KHIEU SAMPHAN ARRIVING TO MEET PRINCE NORODOM RANARIDDH NUON CHEA (FIRST MAN IN LINE, WEARING BLACK AND WHITE JACKET) AND KHIEU SAMPHAN ARRIVING FOR A NEWS CONFERENCE KHIEU SAMPHAN (CENTRE) AND NUON CHEA (RIGHT) SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER KHMER ROUGE HEAD OF STATE, KHIEU SAMPHAN, SAYING: "Yes, sorry, very sorry." In 2007, the pair were both arrested and charged by a U.N.-backed tribunal for crimes against humanity. The court, operated jointly by Cambodia and the United Nations, was set up in 2005 with the aim of trying "those most responsible" for the bloodshed. PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (FILE - NOVEMBER 19, 2007) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) CONVOY TAKING KHIEU SAMPHAN OUT OF HOSPITAL AFTER HIS ARREST Khieu Samphan appeared in court for the first time in April 2008, five months after he was arrested and put into detention. Both he and Nuon Chea would appear in court numerous times over the next few years. PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (FILE - APRIL 23, 2008) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) COURT BUILDING UNITED NATIONS AND CAMBODIAN FLAGS VARIOUS OF KHIEU SAMPHAN SITTING PRISON GUARDS HELP KHIEU SAMPHAN TO STAND JUDGES SITTING CHIEF OF HEARING JUDGES, PRAK KIMSAN, SITTING
  • Embargoed: 25th August 2021 09:01
  • Keywords: Cambodia Khieu Sampan Khmer Rouge Pol Pot head of state president profile war crimes
  • Location: BEIJING, CHINA / UNDENTIFIED LOCATION / PHNOM PENH AND PAILIN, CAMBODIA
  • City: BEIJING, CHINA / UNDENTIFIED LOCATION / PHNOM PENH AND PAILIN, CAMBODIA
  • Country: Cambodia
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA006EQ4313B
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Former Khmer Rouge president Khieu Samphan who was sentenced to life in prison, is due to have a court appeal hearing by the Supreme Court Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on Monday (August 16).
    Khieu Samphan is the former president of Cambodia's ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime who was years later found guilty of genocide and various crimes against humanity by a U.N.-backed court. Six days will be reserved for additional time allowances and questions from the start of the appeal hearing, after which the proceedings will end after the decision of the Supreme Court.
    About 1.8 million people were killed during the 1975-1979 rule of Pol Pot's ultra-communist Khmer Rouge, from torture, execution, disease and starvation after harvests failed.
    Khieu Samphan was at the apex of power within the regime. The French-educated guerilla leader has expressed regret over the years since the regime's fall, but has maintained that he was only a figurehead and knew nothing about the atrocities committed.
    In 1998, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, known as Pol Pot's right-hand man and "Brother Number Two", defected from the Khmer Rouge and returned to Phnom Penh under a 'no arrest' guarantee. Just under a decade later, in 2007, the pair were arrested and charged under a U.N. backed war crimes tribunal.
    In August 2014, he and Nuon Chea were sentenced to life in jail by the tribunal for crimes against humanity, murder, persecution on political grounds and other inhumane acts over the forced evacuation of the capital, Phnom Penh, after the fall of the city in 1975.
    In November 2018, the pair were both found guilty of genocide against the Cham Muslim minority and Vietnamese people in a second trial, and again sentenced to life in prison.
    The tribunal, which officially started in 2006 and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, was plagued by infighting, political interference, resignations and funding shortages.
    The majority of Cambodians alive now were born after the bloody era and they embrace the capitalism the Khmer Rouge deplored. Their Cambodia has enjoyed unprecedented peace and development since the late 1990s, but judgement upon Pol Pot's henchmen is still significant for most people.
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