Thaindian News

By Meena Kar
July 26, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The latest buzz on the web has been the infamous communist group, Khmer Rouge as the prison chief was given a 35 year sentence by the UN war backed tribunal. In spite of less chances of the 67 year old being a free man again in this lifetime, the Cambodians have been extremely upset with the sentencing.

Reports indicate that the UN tribunal considered the time spent prior to the sentencing by the man in prison and also the fact the he was apologetic and remorseful during the hearing. One of the survivors of the Pol Pot regime said that the UN tribunal was a sham and they had no belief in it. The prison chief, Duch, who was convicted has admitted to seeing over the death of 15000 people in the S-21 prison. He has pleaded his case by saying that he did what he was asked to do by his seniors. He also said that he was a coward and did not do the right thing.

The Khmer Rouge regime was responsible for as many as 2 million deaths during its reign from 1975 to 1979. The chief, Pol Pot ordered the massacre of the hundreds of thousands who opposed the regime and Duch was the in charge of the prison and torture facility where the in mates were killed and tortured. The period came to be known as one of the worst in world history for a nation as millions were massacred in Cambodia in the name of cleansing. Ing Chheng, whose five brothers were killed at the time of Khmer Rouge’s reign, said that he wanted to throw a stone at Duch when he appeared in court.