Comrade Duch sentenced to 35 years in prison

The World

The brutal Khmer Rouge regime was driven from power in Cambodia thirty years ago. On Monday, Cambodia convicted a major Khmer Rouge figure, Comrade Duch, for his connection with the deaths of 1.7 million people from 1975 to 1979.

Duch had said that his family would have been killed if he hadn’t carried out his gruesome work, but the judge ruled otherwise. Hundreds of Cambodians who lived through the horrors of the Pol Pot era were in court to witness the hearing. BBC reporter Guy de Launey reports from Cambodia on the significant conviction.

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.