Khmer Rouge prison chief handed 30 years in jail

2010-07-26 73

In a historic first, a UN-backed court Monday sentenced a Khmer Rouge prison chief to 30 years in jail for crimes against humanity over mass executions during Cambodia's "Killing Fields" era. Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, is the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face justice in an international tribunal over the deaths of up to two million people through starvation, overwork and execution under the 1975-1979 regime. But to the dismay of survivors and relatives of victims, the court took into account the years he has already served since his arrest in 1999, meaning that the 67-year-old could possibly walk free in about 19 years' time.Duration: 02:26