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Khmer Rouge tribunal to view atrocity footage

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Luke Hunt

Vietnam hands over film it took of notorious prison S-21 in early 1979

Rare footage of atrocities allegedly committed by the Khmer Rouge in the final days of its rule has been handed over by the Vietnamese government to prosecutors at an international tribunal in Phnom Penh.

The short films were shot by Vietnamese troops who ousted Pol Pot from power 30 years ago, prosecutors said, and scenes included decapitated bodies still chained to their beds at Security Prison 21 in Phnom Penh. The images were not immediately available for public release.

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The black-and-white shots are the only known contemporary footage of the notorious S-21 - a former school converted by Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist followers into a prison camp.

The films were shot around January 10, 1979, when the camp was discovered by the invading Vietnamese.

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About 16,000 people were sent to the camp, chained and allegedly tortured before being sent to their deaths at the 'killing fields' on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

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