SANAA, Nov. 16 (Saba) - A UN court in Cambodia convicted Nuon Chea, 92, and former president Khieu Samphan, 87, of crimes against humanity and genocide against Muslims and Vietnamese and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The historic condemnation comes almost 40 years after the regime was overthrown (the killing fields) in reference to the bloody massacres that killed nearly 2 million people.
Nuon Chea and former president Khieu Samphan, 87, were convicted of crimes against humanity and genocide against Muslims and Vietnamese, the court said.
Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were the first Khmer Rouge officials convicted of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The two men are expected to file an appeal, their lawyers said.
This trial will probably be the last attempt against former regime elements.
About two years ago, witnesses told the court the facts of the crimes and that officials in the regime's prisons ate the meat of the detainees after their execution.
The two men say they were not aware of the atrocities committed between 1975 and 1979 in the country, where two million Cambodians died of exhaustion, hunger, torture or executions.
Saba
The historic condemnation comes almost 40 years after the regime was overthrown (the killing fields) in reference to the bloody massacres that killed nearly 2 million people.
Nuon Chea and former president Khieu Samphan, 87, were convicted of crimes against humanity and genocide against Muslims and Vietnamese, the court said.
Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were the first Khmer Rouge officials convicted of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The two men are expected to file an appeal, their lawyers said.
This trial will probably be the last attempt against former regime elements.
About two years ago, witnesses told the court the facts of the crimes and that officials in the regime's prisons ate the meat of the detainees after their execution.
The two men say they were not aware of the atrocities committed between 1975 and 1979 in the country, where two million Cambodians died of exhaustion, hunger, torture or executions.
Saba