Former Khmer Rouge commander Sam Bith was sentenced by a Phnom Penh court on Monday to life behind bars for the 1994 abduction and murder of three Western backpackers.
The ex-regular army general is the third and most high-ranking Khmer Rouge leader to be sentenced over the abduction and murders, which took years to be brought to court due to a lack of political will to convict those responsible.
"The court sentences Sam Bith, male, 70, a Khmer citizen, to be imprisoned for the whole of his life charged with six different crimes," presiding Judge Sok Setha Mony told a courtroom, according to AFP.
Australian David Wilson, 29, Briton Mark Slater, 28, and Frenchman Jean-Michel Braquet, 27, were abducted from a train travelling between Phnom Penh and the southern city of Sihanoukville back in 1994.
Held for two months before ransom negotiations failed, they were killed by the rebels when government forces attacked their hideout.
"Sam Bith was a senior Khmer Rouge official in charge of the southern zone that controlled three provinces. All Khmer Rouge army in those three provinces were under his orders completely," the judge said.
"The court believes Sam Bith was the ringleader in the attack and murder of the three foreign hostages."
Sam Bith immediately vowed to appeal. "This is an injustice and I will appeal to the court of appeal," he said. (Albawaba.com)
