“Kmermet red” sentenced to BARkalbje in prison for genocide

Former state leader, 87-year-old Khhieu Samphan and his deputy, 92-year-old Nuon Chea, faced charges of extermination of Muslim tribes “Cham” and the Vietnamese ethnic communities. This was the first decision made in the genocide of the 1975-1979 regime. Almost two million people have died during this regime.

However, the numerous killings of Cambodian people do not coincide with the narrow definition of genocide, defined by international laws, so they have been treated as crimes against humanity. This decision is expected to be the last one in an effort for transitional justice that has lasted more than a decade.

These two former leaders were convicted of other crimes, including crimes against humanity, extermination, slavery and torture. The two men had already been sentenced to life imprisonment in another judicial process but were also sentenced to another life sentence. These are two out of only three people tried by the tribunal, which has been criticised because of slow work and political interference allegations.

Despite being victims of the regime, Muslims were forbidden to practice religion and were obliged to eat pork. The crimes of the regime of these leaders have often been called “Cambodian genocide”, but academics and journalists have debated what they have done to condemn this crime, writes “BBC”, broadcast