Three of the most senior surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge have appeared in court in Cambodia.
Nuon Chea, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan attended a hearing at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal to request release from pre-trial detention.
They and another senior figure face charges of genocide for their roles in the deaths of about two million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.
The elderly defendants have all been in detention since 2007.
Nuon Chea was the second-in-command to the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, and is accused of devising the policies which led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
The 84-year-old, who was known as Brother Number Two, argued that the Tribunal had no right to extend his pre-trial detention.
Similar points were made by the former head of state, Khieu Samphan, and ex-social affairs minister, Ieng Thirith, who excused herself and left a written statement. BBC News
