Ta Mok, ex Khmer Rouge leader, dies
He was known as the "butcher" for the brutality of his crimes. He was meant o be one of the main defendants in the long-awaited trial against the old regime, which started this month.
Phnom Penh (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Cambodia's former Khmer Rouge leader, Ta Mok, has died at the age of 80. His lawyer, Benson Samay, says Ta Mok passed away on Thursday, adding that he had slipped into unconsciousness before he died.
Ta Mok was expected to be a key defendant in a trial of top officials from the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, which oversaw the deaths of up to two million people.
He was taken to Phnom Penh military hospital in June with breathing problems and had reportedly been in and out of a coma.
Ta Mok, a military commander, became the Khmer Rouge's last leader after ousting Pol Pot from power. He would have been among the first to be indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity in a United Nations-backed tribunal that opened earlier this month. He eventually became the overall leader of the organisation in 1997, but he was captured two years later and spent the rest of his life in jail.
The ultra-Maoist regime seized power in 1975 and was ousted by invading Vietnamese troops four years later.
Many of the Khmer Rouge's victims were tortured and executed, while others died of starvation, disease or overwork.
None of the regime's leaders ever faced justice for the atrocities. Pol Pot died in 1998, while other top officials remain free.
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