Cambodia genocide denial law open to abuse, say critics

A tourist looking at photos of victims of the Khmer Rouge regime at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. - AFP

PHNOM PENH: Survivors of the Khmer Rouge's genocidal regime welcome a beefed-up Cambodian law that forbids denying the movement's atrocities, but rights advocates and academics warn it could also stifle legitimate dissent.

Enacted last month ahead of this week's 50th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge seizing the capital Phnom Penh, the law threatens hefty jail sentences and fines for anyone who denies the genocide that killed around two million people between 1975 and 1979.