"Brother number 3" and, as head of diplomacy, he would be the only dignitary not to cultivate his secret identity. He welcomed foreign visitors and was also responsible for purges and arrests in the government's ministries. At the end of 1977, before the United Nations, he rejected accusations from Cambodian refugees who wanted to open a discussion with the Khmer Rouge government. Together with Pol Pot, Ieng Sary was sentenced to death in-absentia by the People's Revolutionary Tribunal after the Democratic Khmer regime of Khmer Rouge was overthrown by Vietnam in 1979. King Norodom Sihanouk officially pardoned Ieng Sary in 1996 after his defection from Pol Pot. He was the founder of the Democratic National Union Movement, a split from the Cambodian National Unity Party. Arrest and trial Ieng Sary, reportedly living in "an opulent Phnom Penh villa surrounded by security guards and barbed wire" was arrested on 12 November 2007 in Phnom Penh on an arrest warrant from the Cambodia Tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity. His wife, Ieng Thirith, was also arrested for crimes against humanity. On 16 December 2009, the tribunal officially charged him with genocide for his involvement with the subjugation and murder of Vietnamese and Muslim minorities in Cambodia. Death Sary died in Phnom Penh on 14 March 2013 at the age of 87, before the case against him could be brought to a verdict. He had heart problems for years as well as other ailments. He was taken from his holding cell at the special tribunal to a hospital on 4 March 2013 for what his lawyers said were gastrointestinal problems. Sary's body was transported to his home in Banteay Meanchey province. The body lay for seven days before being cremated. At the time of his death, Sary was on trial for his involvement in the Khmer Rouge. Elisabeth Simonneau Fort, a lawyer for the victims, said "For the victims, this death narrows the scope of the trial and limits their search for truth and justice". See also Cambodian genocide Cambodian Civil War References External links |- 1925 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Cambodian politicians Cambodian criminals Cambodian revolutionaries Cambodian communists Cambodian socialists Cambodian politicians of Chinese descent Cambodian people of Vietnamese descent Vietnamese people of Cambodian descent Vietnamese people of Chinese descent Cambodian expatriates in France Cambodian prisoners and detainees Communist Party of Kampuchea politicians Deputy Prime Ministers of Cambodia Foreign ministers