The UN-backed tribunal's Supreme Court on Feb. 4 sentenced Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch, commander of Khmer Rouge Tuol Sleng prison, to life imprisonment for his crimes against the Cambodian people.
The Supreme Court Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) gave him the maximum sentence available under the law, quashing the 35-year sentence imposed by the Trial Chamber on July 26, 2010.
He admitted to overseeing the torture of his prisoners before sending them for execution at the "killing fields."
Judge Kong Srim, president of the Supreme Court Chamber, said that the upper court felt the penalty should be more severe because the former jailer was responsible for the brutal deaths of so many people.
"The crimes of Kaing Guek Eav were of a particularly shocking and heinous character based on the number of people who were proven to have been killed," the judge said. The tribunal says Duch oversaw the deaths of at least 12,272 victims but estimates have placed the number as high as 16,000.
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An called the sentence a historical victory of Cambodia and finally justice was served./.
