Cambodia Khmer Rouge court upholds conviction against Khieu Samphan

Former head of state Khieu Samphan is guilty of crimes against humanity for his role in the genocidal ultra-communist regime. - AFP

PHNOM PENH (AFP): Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes court gave its final verdict Thursday (Sept 22), upholding the genocide conviction and life sentence imposed on the regime's last surviving leader.

The tribunal was ruling on an appeal by Khieu Samphan, head of state for the murderous communist regime which wiped out a quarter of the Cambodian population in less than four years in the 1970s.