Khieu Samphan

Khieu Samphan
ខៀវ សំផន
Samphan in 2014
Chairman of the State Presidium
In office
11 April 1976 – 7 January 1979
Prime MinisterPol Pot
DeputySo Phim
Nhim Ros[1]
LeaderPol Pot (General Secretary)
Preceded byNorodom Sihanouk
as President of the State Presidium
Succeeded byHeng Samrin
as Chairman of the People's Revolutionary Council
Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea
Acting
4 April 1976 – 14 April 1976
PresidentNorodom Sihanouk
LeaderPol Pot (General Secretary)
Preceded byPenn Nouth
Succeeded byPol Pot
Personal details
Born (1931-07-28) 28 July 1931 (age 92)
Romduol, Svay Rieng, Cambodia, French Indochina
Political party
SpouseSo Socheat[2]
Alma materUniversity of Montpellier (B.Ec)
University of Paris (PhD in Econ.)
Conviction(s)Crimes against humanity and Genocide
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment (2014)

Khieu Samphan (Khmer: ខៀវ សំផន; born 28 July 1931)[3] is a Cambodian former communist politician and economist who was the chairman of the state presidium of Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) from 1976 until 1979. As such, he served as Cambodia's head of state and was one of the most powerful officials in the Khmer Rouge movement, although Pol Pot remained the General Secretary (highest official) in the party.

Prior to joining the Khmer Rouge, he was a member of Norodom Sihanouk's Sangkum government. After the 1967 leftist rebellion, Sihanouk ordered the arrest of leftists including Samphan, who fled into hiding until the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975. On 7 August 2014, along with other members of the regime, he was convicted and received a life sentence for crimes against humanity during the Cambodian genocide, and a further trial found him guilty of genocide in 2018. He is the oldest living former prime minister and the last surviving senior member of the Khmer Rouge following the deaths of Nuon Chea in August 2019[4] and Kang Kek Iew (Duch) in September 2020.[5]

  1. ^ Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments ... 1978:Jan.-Mar.. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library. 2003. hdl:2027/uiug.30112083082609.
  2. ^ "Mrs. SO Socheat". eccc.gov.kh. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  3. ^ "KHIEU Samphan". Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Nuon Chea, ideologue of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, dies at 93". Bangkok Post. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Comrade Duch, Khmer Rouge chief executioner, dies in Cambodia". The Guardian. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.