Khmer Rouge Trial

The former "first lady" of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime passed away today, according to a UN-backed tribunal, without victims ever seeing her face trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

A UN-backed tribunal on Wednesday began a hearing to prepare for the genocide trial of the two senior surviving leaders of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, under whose rule an estimated 1.7 million people died in the late 1970s from starvation, exhaustion, disease and execution.

Former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary, who was on trial for genocide and war crimes, died in hospital on Thursday at the age of 87, a spokesman for the UN-backed court said.

Cambodia's landmark trial of three ex-Khmer Rouge leaders faces fresh delays, the UN-backed court said on Tuesday, explaining funding woes would force it to hold fewer hearings each month.

Cambodians were bluntly reminded of their tragic history on Monday as the trial began of three top Khmer Rouge leaders accused of orchestrating the "killing fields" in the late 1970s.

Prosecutors on Tuesday gave harrowing details of the torture and execution of thousands of Cambodians as they laid their case against the Khmer Rouge regime's prison chief for the first time.

The former "first lady" of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime passed away today, according to a UN-backed tribunal, without victims ever seeing her face trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

A UN-backed tribunal on Wednesday began a hearing to prepare for the genocide trial of the two senior surviving leaders of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, under whose rule an estimated 1.7 million people died in the late 1970s from starvation, exhaustion, disease and execution.

Former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary, who was on trial for genocide and war crimes, died in hospital on Thursday at the age of 87, a spokesman for the UN-backed court said.

Cambodia's landmark trial of three ex-Khmer Rouge leaders faces fresh delays, the UN-backed court said on Tuesday, explaining funding woes would force it to hold fewer hearings each month.

Cambodians were bluntly reminded of their tragic history on Monday as the trial began of three top Khmer Rouge leaders accused of orchestrating the "killing fields" in the late 1970s.

Prosecutors on Tuesday gave harrowing details of the torture and execution of thousands of Cambodians as they laid their case against the Khmer Rouge regime's prison chief for the first time.