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| Cambodia: Khmer Rouge leaders await war crimes verdict | Cambodia: Khmer Rouge leaders await war crimes verdict |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal is to deliver its verdict in the trial of the last two surviving top Khmer Rouge leaders. | Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal is to deliver its verdict in the trial of the last two surviving top Khmer Rouge leaders. |
| Nuon Chea, 88, and Khieu Samphan, 83, are charged with crimes against humanity. | |
| The verdict comes more than three decades after the Maoist regime's fall. | The verdict comes more than three decades after the Maoist regime's fall. |
| Up to two million people are believed to have died under the Khmer Rouge - from starvation and overwork or executed as enemies of the state. | Up to two million people are believed to have died under the Khmer Rouge - from starvation and overwork or executed as enemies of the state. |
| To date, no top-level leader has faced justice. The Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998. | To date, no top-level leader has faced justice. The Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998. |
| Prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment for the pair. | Prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment for the pair. |
| The case against the men has been split into two trials to speed up proceedings because of their age. A separate trial, for genocide, has just got under way. | The case against the men has been split into two trials to speed up proceedings because of their age. A separate trial, for genocide, has just got under way. |
| The Khmer Rouge was in power from 1975-1979. Driven by Maoist ideology, it sought to create an agrarian society. | The Khmer Rouge was in power from 1975-1979. Driven by Maoist ideology, it sought to create an agrarian society. |
| Cities were emptied and their residents forced to work on rural co-operatives. Many were worked to death while others starved as the economy imploded. | Cities were emptied and their residents forced to work on rural co-operatives. Many were worked to death while others starved as the economy imploded. |
| During four violent years, the Khmer Rouge also killed all those it perceived as enemies - intellectuals, minorities, former officials - and their families. | During four violent years, the Khmer Rouge also killed all those it perceived as enemies - intellectuals, minorities, former officials - and their families. |
| Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's second in command, was seen an ideological driving force within the regime. Khieu Samphan was its official head of state. | Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's second in command, was seen an ideological driving force within the regime. Khieu Samphan was its official head of state. |
| Prosecutors have argued that they formulated policy and were complicit in its brutal execution. | Prosecutors have argued that they formulated policy and were complicit in its brutal execution. |
| Both men denied the charges against them. In closing statements last year, they expressed remorse but said they had neither ordered deaths nor been aware of them. | Both men denied the charges against them. In closing statements last year, they expressed remorse but said they had neither ordered deaths nor been aware of them. |
| Unfit for trial | |
| Over three years the court has heard from some of those who lost entire families to the regime. | |
| "My anger remains in my heart,'' Suon Mom, 75, whose husband and four children starved to death, told the Associated Press news agency. | |
| "I still remember the day I left Phnom Penh, walking along the road without having any food or water to drink ... Hopefully the court will sentence the two leaders to life in prison." | |
| Two other former Khmer Rouge ministers were to be tried along side them. | Two other former Khmer Rouge ministers were to be tried along side them. |
| Ieng Sary, the former foreign minister, died in March 2013. His wife Ieng Thirith, who served as the regime's social affairs minister, has been ruled unfit to stand trial. | |
| Former prison chief Duch is the only senior Khmer Rouge leader who has been held to account for the regime's crimes. | Former prison chief Duch is the only senior Khmer Rouge leader who has been held to account for the regime's crimes. |
| He was jailed in 2010 for running the Tuol Sleng prison, where thousands of people defined as enemies of the regime were tortured and killed. | He was jailed in 2010 for running the Tuol Sleng prison, where thousands of people defined as enemies of the regime were tortured and killed. |