Japan donates $200,000 to Khmer Rouge tribunal

Phnom Penh: A court official said Japan has injected $200,000 into the Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal, which has been beset by funding shortages and delays.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the money will be used to offset a shortfall in March salaries for 251 Cambodian court employees.

The UN-backed tribunal is tasked with seeking justice for atrocities committed by the communists during their four years in power in the late 1970s.

The Khmer Rouge's radical policies caused an estimated 1.7 million deaths.

Five former Khmer Rouge leaders, aging and infirm, are being held for trial by the tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity and war atrocities.