Then the writer reveals (just before Mr Nuon Chea's arrest) how his family suffered.
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Human-rights groups also believe that Mr Samphan and Mr Nuon Chea should be brought to trial.
"With Nuon Chea, even a lousy lawyer could press charges, " says Youk Chhang, director of the documentation center.
He was followed by top cadres Ke Pauk, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea.
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Nevertheless, Mr Nuon Paet made history as the first senior commander of the Khmers Rouges to stand trial and be jailed.
The turning-point may have been in December when two leaders of the hated regime, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, returned to Phnom Penh.
When Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, both of them prominent in Pol Pot's government, surrendered in 1998, Mr Hun Sen welcomed them with great warmth.
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On March 27th the defence team for Nuon Chea, another of the accused, backed by two other defence teams, asked to see the confidential UN review.
It has drawn interest from the tribunal that will try Mr Nuon Chea and three other regime leaders next year, and which has tried to subpoena the footage.
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Perhaps for this reason, Nuon Chea later made it clear that there was no question of Pol Pot ever being handed over to any properly convened international tribunal for trial.
The signs did not look promising at the start of Mr Nuon Paet's trial: the judge told reporters that she believed the proceedings could be wrapped up within half a day.
In December Prime Minister Hun Sen literally rolled out the red carpet for Nuon Chea, Pol Pot's political deputy, and longtime frontman Khieu Samphan (the "acceptable face" of the Khmer Rouge).
"What's really disturbing is that by the time the judges make their decision, every piece of evidence, every bit that they look at and evaluate and deliberate on, will have passed through the office of administration and will have literally passed through the hands of people who we say have dirty hands, " said Andrew Ianuzzi, a consultant for defendant Nuon Chea's legal team.
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