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  A spokesman for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) said that this was the second time in 10 days that Sary had been taken to the hospital.

Ing Sary has a history of heart trouble and unsuccessfully appealed his detention on grounds of ill health in December 2007. Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, who served as Minister for Social Affairs under the Khmer Rouge, were arrested in November 2007 and subsequently charged, the online reported.

The ECCC was established by a 2001 law to investigate and try surviving Khmer Rouge officials. The Khmer Rouge is generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians who died between 1975 and 1979.

To date, no top Khmer Rouge officials have faced trial. Sary and Thirith are two of five former Khmer Rouge leaders in custody of the court. Sary is suspected of perpetrating and facilitating murders as well as coordinating Khmer Rouge's policies of forcible transfer, forced labor and unlawful killings.

Thirith allegedly directed and planned widespread purges and the killings of members within the Ministry of Social Affairs. Both have maintained their innocence.