Ieng Thirith was the wife of Ieng Sary, who was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea's Khmer Rouge regime.
She served as Minister of Social Affairs from October 1975 until the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.She was the sister of Khieu Ponnary, who was the first wife of Pol Pot.
She was arrested by the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in November 2007 with her husband, Ieng Sary, on suspicion of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.