Former Khmer Rouge officials found guilty of genocide

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), said Khmer Rouge “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, 92, and former President Khieu Samphan, 87, had been found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide against the Cham Muslims and the Vietnamese. They were the first Khmer Rouge officials found guilty of genocide and were sentenced to life in prison.

The Khmer Rouge's former head of state Khieu Samphan, 87, and "Brother Number 2" Nuon Chea, 92, are the two most senior living members of the ultra-Maoist group that seized control of Cambodia from 1975-1979.

The reign of terror led by "Brother Number 1" Pol Pot left around two million Cambodians dead from overwork, starvation and mass executions.

The two defendants were previously handed life sentences in 2014 over the violent and forced evacuation of Phnom Penh in April 1975.

"The verdict is essentially the Nuremberg judgement for the ECCC and thus carries very significant weight for Cambodia, international criminal justice, and the annals of history," said David Scheffer, who served as the UN secretary general's special expert on the Khmer Rouge trials from 2012 until last month.