Court upholds life sentences for Khmer Rouge leaders

Cambodia's UN-backed court yesterday upheld life sentences for two top former Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity, in a verdict welcomed by survivors of the brutal regime.

"Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, 90, and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan, 85, were the first top leaders to be jailed in 2014 from a regime responsible for the deaths of up to two million Cambodians from 1975-1979.

They appealed their convictions, accusing the court of a string of errors and the judges of failing to remain impartial due to their personal experiences under the regime.

In a lengthy ruling yesterday after months of hearings, the bench upheld the bulk of the convictions and the jail terms, but accepted some legal errors had been made in the initial trial.

Kong Srim, the Supreme Court Chamber's top judge, said the pair "had a complete lack of consideration for the ultimate fate of the Cambodian population", adding that the scale of their crimes was "massive".

The Khmer Rouge regime dismantled modern society in Cambodia in their quest for an agrarian Marxist utopia, killing vast numbers and leaving a generational scar.

Their convictions in August 2014 followed a two-year trial focused on the forced evacuation of around two million Cambodians from Phnom Penh into rural labour camps and the murders of hundreds of enemy soldiers at one of several execution sites.

Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are also currently undergoing a second trial for genocide of ethnic Vietnamese and Muslim minorities, forced marriage and rape.

But the tribunal has had mixed successes. Despite the sheer brutality unleashed by the Khmer Rouge, survivors have seen just a handful of perpetrators brought to justice.

Many key leaders have died without facing justice, including "Brother Number One" Pol Pot who passed away in 1998.