PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, March 21 (UPI) -- Convicted Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, says he reported to one of three surviving Khmer Rouge leaders on trial in Cambodia.
Duch, testifying Tuesday at a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal, said little could be done during the regime without direct orders from a superior, The Phnom Penh Post reported.
Duch said he reported to defendant Nuon Chea, deputy leader to Pol Pot and known as Brother No. 2 in the brutal regime.
"I met Nuon Chea and I reported to him on a regular basis," said Duch, who was convicted of being responsible for more than 12,000 deaths.
Nuon interrupted Duch's testimony and attempted to discredit him as a witness, the newspaper said.
Duch, testifying about the evacuation of Phnom Penh, said it was done forcibly and those who refused to leave were shot.
Defense attorneys say Duch's testimony is based on information he learned after the fact.
Nuon is accused of leading the forced migration of people from cities to work as peasants on communal farms in the countryside during the four-year regime in the 1970s.
Several million people are believed to have starved to death or been killed in what became known as the Killing Fields.
