LOS ANGELES — A Cambodian-born accountant was jailed for life for plotting a bloody coup attempt in his homeland 10 years ago, justice officials said.
Chhun Yasith, 53, who arrived in America in the 1980s after the collapse of the Khmer Rouge's "Killing Fields" regime, was convicted in April 2008 of drawing up plans to overthrow Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh.
Sentencing Chhun on Tuesday, District Judge Dean Pregerson expressed some sympathy for the defendant, who told the judge he formed a rebel militia to avenge the murder of his father by the Khmer Rouge.
"I don't think Mr Chhun is an evil human being," the judge said. "I think he's had a tragic life -- and had the misfortune of being born in a place where terrible things were happening."
Pregerson added that he could understand where such circumstances "could motivate someone to feel they could not stand on the sidelines."
The Cambodian government on Wednesday hailed the sentencing.
"We applaud the decision taken by the US government to prosecute Chhun Yasith," Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters, saying the sentencing would help "to prevent terrorism."
Prosecutors said Chhun Yasith founded a group known as the Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) in 1998 and was elected president after traveling to Thailand to enlist the support former Cambodian military personnel.
The CFF planned a twin-pronged strategy to bring about revolution, prosecutors said. The group was ordered to carry out "popcorn" attacks on soft targets such as karaoke bars, nightclubs and coffee houses before launching an all-out assault to overthrow the government.
Chhun Yasith selected a total of 291 targets for their ill-fated coup, codenamed "Operation Volcano."
Despite being warned by senior CFF advisors that the rebel forces were not big enough to challenge the Cambodian army and police, Chhun Yasith -- based in Thailand -- pressed ahead with the coup attempt, which took place on November 24, 2000.
Dozens of armed men stormed into Phnom Penh firing AK-47 rifles and rockets at government buildings, leaving at least four people dead, before the rebellion was quelled.
More than 100 people were jailed for the attack, which left Hun Sen unscathed.
Chhun Yasith was tried in absentia in Phnom Penh in June 2001 and convicted of conspiracy, terrorism and membership of an illegal armed group.
During the US trial, Chhun Yasith's attorney, Richard Callahan, argued that his client's "only goal was to bring democracy to his homeland."
"It was misguided and naive in its execution but it was not misguided and naive in its intent," Callahan said, saying his client had launched a "noble effort to save Cambodia" from the "tyrannical regime of Hun Sen."
In a December 2000 interview with the Cambodia's English-language Cambodia Daily newspaper, Chhun Yasith said the attack was a failed coup bid and vowed to strike again to topple the government.
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