UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia upholds life in jail for Khmer Rouge leaders

[PHNOM PENH] A UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia upheld a life sentence for two top cadres of the 1970s Khmer Rouge on Wednesday for murder and crimes against humanity.

It was the tribunal's second conviction against those responsible for the deaths of as many as 2.2 million Cambodians, in what was one of the bloodiest chapters of the twentieth century.

The Supreme Court Chamber said Khmer Rouge "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, 90, and former President Khieu Samphan, 85, were guilty of crimes against humanity, murder, persecution on political grounds and other inhumane acts over the forced evacuation of Phnom Penh after the fall of the city in 1975.

"The Supreme Court Chamber affirms the sentence of life imprisonment imposed by the trial chamber on both Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan," judge Kong Srim said on Wednesday.

"The Supreme Court orders that Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan remain in custody."

REUTERS