( CNN ) -- The most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leader , Nuon Chea , has been declared fit for trial by a United Nations-backed court in Cambodia , the agency said Friday . Nuon , the right-hand man to late leader Pol Pot and a former Cambodian prime minister , is reportedly 86 years old and is accused of murder and torture . He waived his right to be present in court Friday because of health reasons , including heart disease , the United Nations said . Earlier this month , former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary died in Phnom Penh at age 87 , said the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia , the U.N.-backed court . He was Pol Pot 's brother-in-law and escaped judgment for war crimes . The communist Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot was blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million people through torture , execution , hard labor and starvation from 1975 to 1979 .
Most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leader has been declared fit for trial . The verdict is expected to be announced on Monday in the capital Phnom Penh. Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people .