Ieng Sary was one of the senior members of the Khmer Rouge. Ieng Sary was the deputy prime minister for foreign affairs, and Pol Pot’s brother-in-law. Ieng Sary was a crucial member of the regime as he used his government post and his image as a very well respected intellectual to persuade those who exiled from Cambodia to return. Those who returned, were arrested, tortured and then killed.
Ieng Sary went to school with Pol Pot in Paris. He became a member of the French Communist party in 1951 and joined the CPK. He officially joined the Khmer Rouge in 1963. When the regime fell in 1979, he fled to the countryside and then Thailand. |
Ieng Sary defected to King Norodom Sihanouk and negotiated peace. Though, he was later prosecuted of crimes against humanity and placed on trial. He died in 2013, at the time of his death, Ieng Sary was still in detention awaiting his trial.
Stephen Heder,a Cambodia scholar and a member that participated in the tribunal said: “Ieng Sery repeatedly and publicly encouraged, and also facilitated arrests and executions within his Foreign Ministry and throughout Cambodia.” Before his arrest he blamed it onto Pol Pot for mass killings and also pointed finger and Nuon Chea, who he said was implicated in torture and executions. He denied the allegations and to him, he had admitted to kill one man, and that was nothing wrong. The role of Ieng Sary was hypocritical and probably least violent in the whole regime. He had to present the regime in a disarming manner ,building hatred for Vietnam and to get help from China. China was the only friend of the regime, as they provided the regime money, weapons and advices.
Stephen Heder,a Cambodia scholar and a member that participated in the tribunal said: “Ieng Sery repeatedly and publicly encouraged, and also facilitated arrests and executions within his Foreign Ministry and throughout Cambodia.” Before his arrest he blamed it onto Pol Pot for mass killings and also pointed finger and Nuon Chea, who he said was implicated in torture and executions. He denied the allegations and to him, he had admitted to kill one man, and that was nothing wrong. The role of Ieng Sary was hypocritical and probably least violent in the whole regime. He had to present the regime in a disarming manner ,building hatred for Vietnam and to get help from China. China was the only friend of the regime, as they provided the regime money, weapons and advices.