Cambodia’s long running Khmer Rouge war crimes court has ordered the release of the “first lady” who has been declared unfit to stand trial.
The UN backed court ruled that there was no prospect that Ieng Thirith, who is 80 years old, could stand trial due to a degenerative illness that she suffers from.
Ieng Thirith, stands accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity for her role in the Khmer Regime which, some estimates suggest, resulted in the death of over 2 million people.
The court emphasised that that the release did not pardon Thirth of her crimes, stating that the basis of the decision was “not a finding on the guilt or innocence of the accused, nor does it have the effect of withdrawing the charges.”
The Khmer Rouge regime was responsible for the death of a quarter of the Cambodian population through means of starvation, over-work and executions in an attempt to create agrarian utopia. Three other ageing top former regime leaders still remain on trial.
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