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PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA'S 'Killing Fields' tribunal turned down a request for bail on Thursday by Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's right-hand-man during the Khmer Rouge's four years in power in the 1970s.
The octogenarian former guerrilla leader, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, had argued he was not a flight risk and would not try to influence potential witnesses.
He also told the court last month that fears for his safety were overblown as he had been living for years in 'peace and harmony' at his home in the jungle along the Thai border.
An estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died of torture, disease or starvation under Pol Pot's 1975-79 reign of terror as his dream of creating an agrarian peasant utopia descended into the nightmare of the 'Killing Fields'.
Nuon Chea is accused of playing a central role in the atrocities and has been implicated directly in the mass slaughter of regime opponents by Duch, head of Phnom Penh's S-21 interrogation and torture centre at the Tuol Sleng high school.
Duch, who is also accused of atrocities, is expected to be a key witness at the United Nations-backed tribunal, which is now facing a major funding crisis. -- REUTERS
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