Cambodia: On final day of UN-backed trial, former leaders deny war crimes charges

Two of the surviving former leaders of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime charged with mass killings during the 1970’s requested to be acquitted today, as closing arguments began at the United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal in the south-east Asian country. Nuon Chea, 87, and Khieu Samphan, 81, are before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), on charges of crimes against humanity for their roles in the regime which ruled from 1975-1979. Nearly 2 million people are thought to have died during that period of forced labour, starvation, torture and execution. The ECCC is a hybrid court established in 2006 to try senior leaders and those most responsible for the crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime. The UN has deployed international judges, prosecutors and staff to the ECCC through the UN Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials.