Asia-Pacific News
LEAD: Khmer Rouge prison chief gets life sentence on appeal
Feb 3, 2012, 4:42 GMT
Phnom Penh - Former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Comrade Duch, saw his sentence for crimes against humanity and war crimes raised Friday to life in prison in an appeal judgement before Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal.
The president of the supreme court chamber, Kong Srim, described Duch's crimes as 'shocking and heinous' and called them an 'affront to all of humanity.'
The UN-backed tribunal initially sentenced Duch to 35 years in July 2010 after finding him guilty of involvement in the deaths of at least 12,272 detainees at Phnom Penh's S-21 prison from 1976 to 1979.
With mitigating factors, including a five-year reduction of his sentence for illegal detention, the earlier sentence would have meant Duch would serve 19 years. Both the prosecution and defence appealed for a revision of the sentence.
Kong Srim said Duch was judged to have already served more than 12 years of his sentence in pre-trial detention.
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