Khmer Rouge leader trial opens
Hundreds line up to catch a glimpse of the accused
The United Nations-backed trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader accused of overseeing the torture and murder of more than 12,000 inmates at an infamous prison camp opened today in Phnom Penh. Hundreds lined up to catch a glimpse of the accused, 66-year-old Kaing Guek Eav, better known as “Dutch,” who doesn’t deny the accusations against him and is now a born-again Christian. The Maoist Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and controlled parts of the country for another two decades. The regime murdered an estimated 1.5 million people out of a population of less than 8 million.
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