His wife, Ieng Thirith (née Khieu), served in the Khmer Rouge government as social affairs minister.

Ieng Sary was arrested in 2007 and was charged with crimes against humanity but died of heart failure before the case against him could be brought to a verdict.

His father, Kim Riem was a Khmer Krom while his mother Tran Thi Loi was both Chinese and Vietnamese mix as confirmed by the Cambodian Tribunal[2] who moved back to Vietnam with her parents when she was a little girl.

[6] After the fall of the Khmer Republic on 17 April 1975, Sary made personal appeals to expatriates to help rebuild Cambodia.

[8] At the end of 1977, before the United Nations, he rejected accusations from Cambodian refugees who wanted to open a discussion with the Khmer Rouge government.

[citation needed] King Norodom Sihanouk officially pardoned Ieng Sary in 1996 after his defection from Pol Pot.

[12] On 16 December 2009, the tribunal officially charged him with genocide for his involvement with the subjugation and murder of Vietnamese and Muslim minorities in Cambodia.