The defendant, Khieu Samphan, 90, was the head of state for the fanatical communist regime that ravaged the country through campaigns of torture, execution, forced labor and starvation. His lawyer, Kong Sam Ong, opened the appeal arguing that the conviction should be dismissed on procedural and evidentiary grounds. Mr. Khieu Samphan was scheduled to speak on Thursday. He was convicted in November 2018 of genocide against ethnic Vietnamese as well as crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. At that trial, he claimed he had not known of the widespread killings that had taken place on his watch.

Source: International New York Times August 17, 2021 05:03 UTC