Khieu Samphan

Khieu Samphan
ខៀវ សំផន
Samphan in 2014
Chairman of the State Presidium
In office 11 April 1976 – 7 January 1979
Prime Minister	Pol Pot
Deputy	So Phim Nhim Ros[1]
Leader	Pol Pot (General Secretary)
Preceded by	Norodom Sihanouk as President of the State Presidium
Succeeded by	Heng Samrin as Chairman of the People's Revolutionary Council
Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea
Acting 4 April 1976 – 14 April 1976
President	Norodom Sihanouk
Leader	Pol Pot (General Secretary)
Preceded by	Penn Nouth
Succeeded by	Pol Pot
General Secretary of the Party of Democratic Kampuchea
In office 1985–1993
Preceded by	Pol Pot
Succeeded by	Himself (as leader of Cambodian National Unity Party)
Party leader of the Cambodian National Unity Party
In office 1992–1997
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Himself (as Leader of the Khmer National Solidarity Party)
Head of government of the Provisional government
In office 1994–1998
Vice Prime minister and Minister of Defense of the Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea
In office 5 May 1970 – 14 July 1975
Personal details
Born	(1931-07-28) 28 July 1931 (age 93) Romduol, Svay Rieng, Cambodia, French Indochina
Political party	Khmer National Solidarity Party (1997–98) Cambodian National Unity Party (1993–97) Party of Democratic Kampuchea (1981–93) Communist Party of Kampuchea (1967–81) Sangkum (1958–67)
Spouse	So Socheat[2]
Alma mater	University of Montpellier (B.Ec) University of Paris (PhD in Econ.)
Conviction(s)	Crimes against humanity and Genocide
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment (2014)

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Khieu Samphan (Khmer: ខៀវ សំផន; born 28 July 1931)^[3] is a Cambodian former communist politician and economist who was the chairman of the state presidium of Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) from 1976 until 1979. As such, he served as Cambodia's head of state and was one of the most powerful officials in the Khmer Rouge movement, although Pol Pot remained the General Secretary (highest official) in the party.

Prior to joining the Khmer Rouge, he was a member of Norodom Sihanouk's Sangkum government. After the 1967 leftist rebellion, Sihanouk ordered the arrest of leftists including Samphan, who fled into hiding until the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975. On 7 August 2014, along with other members of the regime, he was convicted and received a life sentence for crimes against humanity during the Cambodian genocide, and a further trial found him guilty of genocide in 2018. He is the oldest living former prime minister and the last surviving senior member of the Khmer Rouge following the deaths of Nuon Chea in August 2019^[4] and Kang Kek Iew (Duch) in September 2020.^[5]