Former Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea appears at the tribunal in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh on February 4, 2008. — AFP Photo

PHNOM PENH —  Khmer Rouge ‘brother number two’ Nuon Chea died on Sunday aged 93, said a spokesman for the Cambodia tribunal where he was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity.

"We can confirm that defendant Nuon Chea... passed away this evening on 4 August 2019 at Khmer Soviet Friendship hospital," said Neth Pheaktra, spokesman at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

The cause of his death was not given.

He had been transferred from the ECCC's detention center to the Khmer-Soviet Friendship hospital for medical treatment since July 2, the spokesman said.

Chea's family has been informed, he added.

The ECCC was founded in 2006 by the United Nations to try the most senior responsible members of the Khmer Rouge for alleged crimes perpetrated during the Cambodian genocide.
In November 2018, the ECCC convicted two Khmer Rouge leaders – Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan – of genocide and other crimes against humanity, sentencing them to life imprisonment. — Agencies