Case of executed activists to be retried

Sighing with relief but so grief-stricken at the memory of her husband`s death that she struggled to speak, 73-year old Kang Soon-hee laid bare her wishes in a trembling voice to a crowd of reporters gathered at Seoul District Court yesterday.

"My wish is that the court will prove it has a conscience, courage, and integrity. That the Supreme Court proves to be the final vanguard of human rights in this country," she said.

Over 30 years after her husband was executed along with seven other activists, the court finally issued a retrial order yesterday to probe what has been dubbed a "judicial murder" carried out by the government under military dictator Park Chung-hee.

Eight college students were executed on April 9, 1975 by the Park administration, 18 hours after being sentenced to death and having their appeals rejected by the Supreme Court. It is now three years since Kang Soon-hee and the other relatives requested that one of the nation`s worst cases of democratic oppression from the 1970s be retried.

The retrial order follows an announcement earlier this month by the National Intelligence Agency that it fabricated charges of conspiracy and treason against the eight men. They were in fact a group of dissidents who occasionally met to discuss the repressive regime of Park Chung-hee and read transcripts of North Korean radio broadcasts.

The court said it ordered the retrial on the basis that the executed may have been tortured and coerced into making confessions to false charges that the government had brought against them. The court said it received testimonies from prison guards and other student activists that they witnessed those executed undergoing harsh treatment and being forced into making coerced confessions.

The executed were prescribed painkillers and antibiotics during their interrogation, evidence that supports the suspicions that they were forced to confess.

"It`s hard to see another reason for the executed to have confessed to so much during that period," the court said.

The truth commission for the case and the Catholic Human Rights Commission said that "the judiciary has finally begun to examine its past injustice and is asking for forgiveness."

But for Kang Soon-hee and the relatives of the other seven dead freedom fighters gathered at the court yesterday, their faces reflected a need for justice to be met before forgiveness could be offered.

The inconceivable loss, pain and anger at the government`s brutality is still clearly evident 30 years after their loved ones were executed.

"My wish is that the public learns who the 12 jurors were who sentenced my husband to death. My wish is that our future generation knows this society still has a conscience," Kang continued.

"My wish is that Park Chung-hee received a thousand punishments when he died and I wish that God heard my story," she said.

"I wish that a reporter would be brave enough to tell the truth behind this crime," she said.

While Kang poured out wish after wish to reporters as her emotions rose, her escort led her away with the group of other relatives to visit Seodaemun, the site of the executions, to remember their dead loved ones.

"What words can express any feelings I have of my husband?" Kang said when she was asked about her late husband. She broke down in tears, unable to get back on her feet for a while.

"The only way left to release our grief and sorrow of 30 years is to recover judicial honor," said Lee Yoo-jeong, one of the lawyers who helped the family members appeal for the retrial.

"While we are happy to receive the retrial order, it is hard to conceal our sorrow and regret," said Lee Young-gyo, wife of Ha Jae-wan, another freedom fighter who was executed.

Former President Park, who ruled the country as a military regime for 18 years, directly influenced the prosecution`s investigation into the student protesters by exaggerating their activities as pro-communist.

In 1974, more than 1,000 student activists were arrested without warrants. Of these, 253 were put on trial leading to eight being sentenced to death. Tens of others were sentenced to life imprisonment and others were given long terms of imprisonment.

The incident is known by two different names - the Mincheong Hangnyon, referring to the name of the student groups, and the Inhyeokdang case, in reference to a name made up by the government enabling them to accuse the students of antistate activities.

The NIS investigation showed that Inhyeokdang was a small gathering rather than a party, and that there was no proof that the gathering had any intention to overthrow the government.

It also said that Mincheong Hangnyon was an organization of students fighting for a democratic government, and that there was no evidence of it having received any directions from North Korea.

(jkwon@heraldm.com)



By Kwon Ji-young