Cambodia tribunal declares Khmer Rouge 'first lady' unfit to stand trial

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Source: Reuters

The international tribunal trying the top commanders of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime has ruled that former minister Ieng Thirith was mentally ill and unfit to stand trial.

In the latest setback for proceedings that have been mired in controversy, it was announced on Thursday that

Ieng Thirith, the 79-year-old French-educated former Shakespeare scholar know as "the first lady of the Khmer Rouge", would be released from detention if no appeal was lodged by prosecutors.

The decision by the extraordinary chambers in the court of Cambodia (ECCC) may be another blow to Cambodians seeking closure from the horrors of Pol Pot's "killing fields" revolution, during which an estimated 1.7 million people - a quarter of the population - died between 1975 and 1979 due to execution, torture, starvation or disease.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/17/cambodia-khmer-rouge-trial