U.N.-backed Cambodian tribunal to announce verdict for 2 senior Khmer Rouge leaders on Aug. 7

U.N.-backed Cambodian tribunal to announce verdict for 2 senior Khmer Rouge leaders on Aug. 7

PHNOM PENH, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations war crimes tribunal will announce the judgement against ailing former senior Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan on Aug. 7, according to its statement on Thursday.

Nuon Chea, 87, also known as "Brother Number 2", is the chief ideologue of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, and Khieu Samphan, 82, is the regime's former head of state, said the statement of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

The trial hearings began in November 2011 and concluded with closing statements in October 2013, it said. "The charges against the two suspects focus on alleged crimes against humanity related to the forced movement of the population from Phnom Penh in April 1975 and the alleged execution of Khmer Republic soldiers at Tuol Po Chrey in Pursat Province,"the statement said.

Launched in 2006, the United Nations-backed tribunal is seeking justice for an estimated 1.7 million people who died during the regime from 1975 to 1979 due to starvation, overwork, torture, execution and massacre.

So far, the cash-strapped tribunal has achieved only one conviction, sentencing ex-chief of Tuol Sleng prison Kaing Guek Eav to life in prison for overseeing the deaths of around 15,000 people during the regime.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/xinhua-news-agency/140529/un-backed-cambodian-tribunal-announce-verdict-2-senior-khmer