Khmer Rouge prison commander Duch dies

Comrade Duch was the first Khmer Rouge commander convicted of crimes against humanity in 2010. (Pic courtesy of  Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia) 

PHNOM PENH: Comrade Duch, the senior Khmer Rouge figure who ran Cambodia’s most notorious prison during the genocidal regime, died on Wednesday, a spokesman for the tribunal that convicted him of war crimes said.

Duch, 77, whose given name was Kaing Guek Eav, was the first Khmer Rouge commander convicted of crimes against humanity in 2010, and sentenced in 2012 after a UN-backed tribunal rejected his appeal claim that he was a junior official following orders.

He was serving a life sentence.

“Duch died this morning at 12.52am on Sept 2 at Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital.

Details of what he died of, I can’t tell,” Khmer Rouge tribunal spokesman Neth Pheaktra said.

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