- The former head of state of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime plans to appeal his sentence to life imprisonment for genocide.
- From 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot caused 1.7 million deaths in Cambodia.
- Samphan often rejects the idea of him participating in or directly responsible for the death.
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Khieu Samphan, the former head of state of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge regime, is preparing to appeal his life imprisonment for participating in the genocide of Vietnamese about 40 years ago.
according to Phnom Penh Post, The United Nations-backed Cambodian Supreme Court Chamber will hear his case next week.Court spokesperson Tell AFP Samphan plans to testify in court.
The communist political group Khmer Rouge and its dictator Pol Pot, Caused approximately 1.7 million deaths During their reign from 1975 to 1979.
Many victims from ethnic minorities died of torture, starvation, disease, or exhaustion in labor camps, while others are now called “Killing fields. “
The 90-year-old Samphan denied that the regime directly caused death and stated in a previous trial that the term “genocide” was a propaganda tool created by the Vietnamese government.
“The word’murder’, I flatly refuse,” According to Reuters, he told the court in 2017.
In 2018, he and the second-in-command of the regime’s chief thinker, Nunche, were sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide-he now plans to challenge this sentence.The two regime leaders were also imprisoned for life Crimes against humanity in 2014.
Chea passed away in 2019, and Samphan is now the last living member of the top Khmer Rouge leadership. Pol Pot, also known as “Brother Number One”, Died in 1998 before the trial.
The remaining leaders faced so many charges during the trial that the court It was decided in 2011 to divide the trial into smaller hearings Because of fear that the Khmer Rouge leaders will die before being tried.
