A United Nations-backed tribunal on Monday found a 67-year-old former prison warden of the Khmer Rouge guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes for overseeing the torture and killing of more than 14,000 prisoners. He was the first major figure from the murderous regime to be tried  since it was toppled 30 years ago.

    In a sentence considered shockingly lenient in Cambodia, the court sentenced him to serve 19 years in prison -- 35 years minus 16 years for time already served. Prosecutors had sought 40 years. There is no death penalty in Cambodia.

    The defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, commonly known as Duch, had admitted in an eight-month trial to many of the accusations against him. He oversaw a system that came to symbolize a regime responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million people from 1975 to 1979. The packed courtroom included some survivors of the prison he ran, three of whom had testified about the torture inflicted upon them.

    <<<背景介绍

       特别法庭于2006年开始工作，现在进行到“2号案件”阶段，4名红色高棉高官在押，等待明年择时审判。杜赫的自我辩护并不明晰，在去年11月的最后审判日，他出乎意料地要求自己无罪释放，似乎与律师精心构筑的辩护自相矛盾。杜赫的律师想让杜赫认罪，并坚称杜赫只是大屠杀执行体系的一环，以尽力减轻杜赫的量刑。