Democracy activist awarded 1.5 billion dollars for wrongful imprisonment in South Korea

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(dpa/GNA) – A South Korean poet and democracy activist was awarded 1.5 billion won (1.36 million dollars) in compensation for his wrongful imprisonment in the 1970s, a news report said Tuesday.

Kim Ji HaKim Ji Ha was sentenced to death in 1974 for his role in a students’ plot to overthrow the government, and writing articles alleging torture by the authorities, but was released after 10 months amid international pressure.

He requested a retrial and was found not guilty in 2013. He then filed a compensation claim against the state, and the Seoul High Court awarded him the 1.5 billion won on April 8.

That ruling was confirmed at the weekend because the prosecution had declined to appeal to the Supreme Court, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The government of then president Park Chung Hee arrested around 180 members of the Pyongyang-backed National Youth Association for Democracy in 1974 on charges of plotting to overthrow it.

Eight of them were convicted and executed within 20 hours in 1975.

Park, who took power in a 1961 coup, was the father of current President Park Geun Hye. Park, who took power in a 1961 coup, was the father of current President Park Geun Hye. He was assassinated in 1979 by the head of the national intelligence agency after a dinner.

GNA

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