PHNOM PENH, Nov 19: Former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan was formally detained and charged on Monday with war crimes and crimes against humanity by Cambodia’s UN-backed genocide tribunal, a court spokesman said.

“The co-investigating judges have detained him for a period of one year,” tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said.

“Khieu Samphan’s lawyers have already said they will appeal his detention,” he added.

The charges were filed after nearly 10 hours of talks between tribunal judges and Khieu Samphan’s lawyers, who include Frenchman Jacques Verges.

Verges gained fame by defending some of the world’s most notorious figures, including Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and the terrorist “Carlos the Jackal.”—AFP