Khmer Rouge official on appeal denies complicity in genocide

By SOPHENG CHEANG and DAVID RISING
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The last living member of Pol Pot’s inner circle denied complicity in the genocide committed under the brutal Khmer Rouge government, telling an international tribunal he was being judged as a proxy for the entire radical communist regime. Speaking slowly and deliberately Thursday, 90-year-old Khieu Samphan told the tribunal of Cambodian and international judges in a final statement to end his appeal of a 2018 verdict that he “categorically denied” participation in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The prosecution argued that is simply not true. A verdict on Khieu Samphan’s appeal is not expected until next year, and even if the 2018 conviction is overturned, he is already serving a life sentence for a crimes against humanity conviction.