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    June 27, 2011

Trial of 4 Top Khmer Rouge Leaders Opens in Cambodia

   Defendants, in their 70s and 80s, all deny charges against them

   VOA News
   This combo shows file photos of the four top surviving leaders of the
   Khmer Rouge regime from left to right: Nuon Chea, the group's
   ideologist; former head of state and public face of the regime, Khieu
   Samphan, former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary; and his w
   Photo: AP
   This combo shows file photos of the four top surviving leaders of the
   Khmer Rouge regime from left to right: Nuon Chea, the group's
   ideologist; former head of state and public face of the regime, Khieu
   Samphan, former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary; and his wife Ieng Thirith,
   ex-minister for social affairs (file photo)

   Cambodia's U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal has opened the trial of the
   top four surviving leaders of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, accused of
   genocide and other atrocities in the late 1970s.
   The defendants are Khieu Samphan, 79, the nominal head of state; Nuon
   Chea, 84, described as the Khmer Rouge's ideologue; Ieng Sary, 85, the
   foreign minister; and his wife, Ieng Thirith, 79, who was minister of
   social affairs. All have denied the charges against them.
   The day's proceedings were devoted to procedural issues, with the
   presentation of evidence and testimony not expected to begin for
   several weeks. The trial is expected to last for years, raising
   concerns about whether the elderly defendants all will live to see it
   end.

   In its only previous case, the court last year convicted Kaing Guek
   Eav, who ran the main prison and torture house of the Khmer Rouge. He
   was given a term of 35 years, which was reduced to 19 years.
   As many as 2 million people are believed to have been executed or died
   from disease and overwork under the Khmer Rouge regime.

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