Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Forty years ago on Monday, Vietnamese tanks rolled through Phnom Penh, a city that had been a near ghost town during the Cambodia genocide, to signal the overthrow of the regime of Pol Pot, the ultra-communists’ leader who managed to escape in a jeep at the last minute.
It was the end of three years, eight months and 20 days of terror that had resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians.
Large celebrations will take place at the Cambodian capital’s Olympic Stadium on Monday to mark “Victory Over Genocide Day”. Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who defected and helped overthrow them, is expected to deliver a speech lauding January 7 as the moment the country was saved from Pol Pot’s murderous clutches.
