Joke Locked up Innocent Boys for 10 Months

Two teenagers are found innocent after 10 months of imprisonment. The boys were forced into confession by the police and the prosecution, and convicted, based on the forced confessions, of robbery and murder. As a result, one of the boys was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the trial court. Then, the boys filed an appeal and the appellate court found them not guilty of all the charges.

Yesterday, the Criminal Division 2 of Seoul Appellate Court (Lee Sung-ryong, Division Chief) reversed the ruling of the lower court, under which the boy, whose last name is Yoon, was found guilty and sentenced to 15-year imprisonment, his alleged accomplice Chang to maximum of 7 years. The court held, "No evidence warrants the guilt of the defendants. This Court shall not find the defendants guilty as charged only based on their confessions."

The boys` case serves as a chilling example demonstrating how often and severely civil rights are violated by law enforcement agencies and judiciary branches.

▽ Beginning = Yoon and his friend Chang worked as delivery boy at a Chinese restaurant. On January 10, 2002, they went to an Internet café for online chatting after work. While chatting, they wrote an online message, saying, "I killed a person… with my hands" Then, the owner of the café saw the message and reported it to the police. The police officers were dispatched and the boys got arrested.

Buchon Police Station of Kyunggi Province believed that they were the suspects who committed murder during robbery, which had occurred on Dec. 23, 2001 at an intersection in Namdong Gu, Inchon. Chang, during the interrogation, made a false statement against his will and said, "We tried to rob a pedestrian on the street. But the person resisted, and Yoon stabbed him to death." As a result, they had to face a trial and the Inchon District Court took the case. Buying every argument of the DA office, the court rendered a harsh punishment to them in July, this year.

▽ Absurd investigation and prosecution = What the Seoul Appellate Court wrote in its holding clearly demonstrates how absurdly the police investigation and the prosecution were conducted.

First of all, Yoon stated in the police report, "I stole the knife from the Chinese restaurant I worked for." But the murder victim was stabbed to death by a knife having a sharp point. On the other hand, the owner of the restaurant testified, "We have not lost any knife. In addition, in our store, we have only big, and rectangular knives, none of which has a sharp point."

Chang, on the other hand, said, while chatting at the café, that he committed a murder in Bupyong Dong. But the police took them into custody as suspects of a murder that had occurred in Gansuk Dong. Furthermore, the forensic examination found no trace of the victim`s blood on the jacket Yoon allegedly wore at the time of the crime.

▽ Appellate proceedings = The boys testified during the appeals procedure, "The prosecutor coerced us into admitting the charge. He said, `If you do not tell the truth, I will send you to the gas chamber or lock you up for the rest of your life.` In the police station, officers beat us all over our bodies with knees on the ground."

During the trial, they also filed scores of petitions with the court, telling how they were tortured and, consequently, had to admit the murder charge. But the three-judge panel ignored all of them without making any efforts to find out the truth.

Song Woo-sup, a public defendant who represented them in the appellate proceedings, stressed, "When I first met Yoon, he shook himself out of fear and trauma. We should overhaul the whole system. The old, illegal practices in prosecution made them victims of torture. In order to prevent such unfortunate minors from falling prey to torture, and help them keep their civil rights, we should take action."

The appellate court, however, found them guilty of stealing \120,000 (approximately $1,000) and a motorcycle from the restaurant, and rendered a two-year suspended sentence and 160-hour community service to them.

Jin-Kyun Kil leon@donga.com