Court to quiz accused Khmer Rouge trio
- 12 years ago
Three senior leaders of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime will be questioned at a UN-backed tribunal for the first time over their roles in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people when their movement held power in the 1970s.
The long-awaited trial began late last month with opening statements, and this week the court is expected to focus on charges involving the forced movement of people and crimes against humanity.
After the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, they began moving an estimated 1 million people, even hospital patients, from the capital into the countryside in an effort to create a communist agrarian utopia.
The defendants are accused of crimes against humanity, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture stemming from the group's 1975-79 reign of terror. All have denied wrongdoing.
Al Jazeera's Rob McBride reports from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
The long-awaited trial began late last month with opening statements, and this week the court is expected to focus on charges involving the forced movement of people and crimes against humanity.
After the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, they began moving an estimated 1 million people, even hospital patients, from the capital into the countryside in an effort to create a communist agrarian utopia.
The defendants are accused of crimes against humanity, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture stemming from the group's 1975-79 reign of terror. All have denied wrongdoing.
Al Jazeera's Rob McBride reports from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.