Khmer Rouge figure arrested, will face genocide tribunal
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — The former Khmer Rouge head of state was arrested today by a United Nations-backed genocide tribunal immediately after being discharged from a Phnom Penh hospital, officials said.
Flanked by heavily armed police, Khieu Samphan was escorted from the medical center into a convoy of police vehicles, witnesses said, and was whisked to the tribunal’s court and detention facility.
Khieu Samphan, 76, was moved to the hospital by military helicopter last week on the orders of Prime Minister Hun Sen after losing consciousness at his home in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin. He was held under heavy guard at the hospital, and his arrest had been widely anticipated.
Khieu Samphan is the fifth suspect detained by the court as one of those “most responsible” for the deaths of some 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979. He was one of Pol Pot’s closest confidants.
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