[JURIST] Former Cambodian head of state Khieu Samphan [JURIST news archive] was hospitalized Wednesday after suffering a stroke. The fifth senior Khmer Rouge [JURIST news archive] leader to be detained by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website], he was arrested [JURIST report] in November 2007 upon release from the hospital where he was receiving treatment after having suffered an earlier stroke [NYT report]. He has been detained while he awaits trial for atrocities allegedly committed against the Cambodian people. AP has more.

The Khmer Rouge is widely believed to be responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians [PPU backgrounder] who died between 1975 and 1979. The Extraordinary Chambers have yet to convict any of the elderly indictees. In February, Samphan announced he was ending his cooperation with the ECCC [JURIST report]. Khieu Samphan's French lawyer, Jacques Verges [BBC profile], said that his client would not speak with court officials until court documents and pages of evidence against his client are translated into French.