Top Khmer Rouge Deputy Arrested

Today, Cambodian police arrested the highest-ranking surviving leader of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. Nuon Chea, 82, was living freely in his house in Pailin, near the Thai border up until the time of the arrest. He was flown by helicopter to Phnom Penh to face charges of crimes against humanity. He will appear before the tribunal officially known as the extraordinary chambers in the courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

Nuon Chea helped Pol Pot to gain control Cambodia’s communist party during the 1950s and 609s, and was a senior deputy in Pol Pot’s murderous Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979, during which time an estimate 1.7 million Cambodians died or were killed. During the Khmer Rouge rule, Nuon Chea was second only to Pol Pot. He has denied any wrong-doing.

Prosecutors for the genocide tribunal have recommended for trial four other surviving senior Khmer Rouge leaders, including Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, who headed the S-21 prison, a high school-turned-concentration camp where some 20,000 Cambodians were executed. Duch was charged last month, but the other three suspects have not yet been publicly named.

For More Information:

The Guardian - Cambodian Police Arrest Pol Pot's Deputy - Sep. 19, 2007
The Nation - Cambodia arrests deputy Khmer Rouge leader
The Washington Post - Former Khmer Rouge Leader Detained - Sep 19, 2007
Reuters - Nuol Chea, Pol Pot's right-hand man - Sep. 19, 2007
Mongabay.com - Cambodia Pictures of the S-21 site - circa 2003