Former Khmer Rouge prison commander, 66-year-old Duch sits in court in Phnom Penh
Kaing Guek Eav, better known by the alias Duch, faces charges of crimes against humanity over his iron-fisted rule at Tuol Sleng prison, where he is accused of presiding over the deaths of 15,000 men, women and children.
He sat solemnly in the dock as hundreds of people turned up to watch the start of proceedings against a key figure in the ultra-communist regime, which killed around two million people in one of the 20th century's worst atrocities.
"I prayed for dawn as soon as possible so that I could see this trial start," said artist Vann Nath, who became one of only a about a dozen survivors from the prison after he was put to work painting pro-regime pictures.
Under Duch, a former maths teacher now aged 66, Tuol Sleng was used to extract false confessions from alleged traitors that they were agents of foreign powers including the CIA.
Most inmates were taken from the prison, a former high school, for execution at nearby Choeung Ek, an orchard now known as the "Killing Fields". Adults were beaten to death with hoes while children's heads were smashed against trees.
On Tuesday, Duch wore a blue shirt and listened through earphones as the court opened the trial behind a huge bullet-proof screen to prevent revenge attacks by his victims. He did not speak publicly.
Officials transported him to court in an armoured Land Cruiser the short distance from the nearby villa where he is being held with four top Khmer Rouge leaders, who all face trial later this year.
Duch is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and premeditated murder and faces a life sentence. The tribunal cannot impose the death penalty.
"This first hearing represents the realisation of significant efforts in establishing a fair and independent tribunal to try those in senior leadership positions," chief judge Nil Nonn said at the opening of the trial.
For Cambodians the controversial tribunal, established in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between Cambodia and the United Nations, is seen as the last chance to bring the Khmer Rouge's surviving leaders to book.
Court spokeswoman Helen Jarvis said Tuesday's initial hearing was "very, very significant" for the conflict-scarred nation, even though it is expected to last less than three days as it involves procedural matters.
With full testimony not due to start until March, defence lawyer Francois Roux complained to the court that it was "unacceptable" that Duch had been held without trial for more than nine years.
The hearing adjourned after seven hours of legal arguments, mainly about the admissibility of witnesses.
Like most of the Khmer Rouge's top figures, Duch lived freely for years and was only arrested in 1999 when a journalist found him working as an aid worker in the jungle. He was formally transferred to the tribunal in July 2007.
He has previously expressed regret for his crimes but has said that he was acting under orders from leaders of the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime.
Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge rose to power as a tragic spinoff from the US conflict in Vietnam, emptying Cambodia's cities to take society back to a rural "Year Zero".
They wiped out nearly a quarter of the population, targeting city dwellers, intellectuals and even people who wore glasses in their bid to root out anyone who threatened the peasant revolution.
The regime was ousted by Vietnamese-backed forces in January 1979. Pol Pot died in 1998.
The tribunal has been delayed by legal arguments and bail hearings, and has faced controversy over allegations of political interference by the government over the prosecution of further suspects.
The government of Cambodian premier Hun Sen has been accused of trying to protect former Khmer Rouge cadres from justice.
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