The Supreme Court Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) announced that it would hear an appeal in the case of former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan, who has been sentenced to life in prison.

The ECCC Trial Chamber found Samphan, now 90, guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide against Vietnamese ethnics in his capacity as head of state during the Khmer Rouge’s Democratic Kampuchea regime between April 17, 1975 and January 6, 1979.

ECCC spokesman Neth Pheaktra confirmed to The Post on July 28 that the hearing would be held virtually in order to comply with Covid-19 preventive measures.

“The hearing of an appeal in case number 002/02 against Khieu Samphan will be held on August 16-19, 2021, beginning at 9am each day. The Trial Chamber has also reserved additional days for the hearing – should they prove necessary – on August 20-27, 2021,” he said.

The accused in case 002/02 were Nuon Chea, the deputy secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, and Samphan.

They were charged with crimes against humanity, genocide and for serious violations of the Geneva Conventions, the treaty that forms the basis for international humanitarian law and attempts to limit the conduct of nations during armed conflict.

Chea – a former senior leader of the Khmer Rouge and “Brother Number Two” after Pol Pot – passed away at the age of 93 in August, 2019, at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital following his conviction for crimes against humanity in 2018.