PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) Prosecutors at Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal requested life imprisonment for two of the regime's surviving leaders, issuing an emotional appeal for justice for the millions who died or suffered through the group's reign of terror nearly 40 years ago.
Now ailing, 87-year-old Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge's chief ideologist, and 82-year-old Khieu Samphan, its head of state, are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity including torture, enslavement and murder.
An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died of execution, disease, torture and starvation during the Khmer Rouge's brutal rule in the 1970s, during which the communist ideologues emptied cities and forced virtually the entire population to work on farm collectives.
Co-prosecutor Chea Leang wrapped up three days of closing arguments by calling for the maximum penalty allowed in Cambodia, which has no death penalty, saying neither man has acknowledged his crimes or shown remorse.
"We do not ask for the killing of these two accused. We do not ask you to condemn these men ... to be abused and beaten, to be bound and shot, to watch their children be torn apart and smashed against trees," the co-prosecutor said, referring to the Khmer Rouge's treatment of its prisoners.