On the morning of the 16th, the family members shed tears when they were found not guilty at the sentenced trial for the retrial of the 4·3 prisoner in Jeju, held in the 201 court of Jeju District Court. Reporter Kim Young-heon
“Kim Soon-won, Lee Si-jeon, Park Se-won, Oh Young-ha, Oh Gye-young, Kim Oh-man, Lee Kye-hyung, Lim Dong-ya, Lim Cheong-ya, Kang Jae-cheol, Ko Moon-ik, Jang Heung-soo, Yang Yang-du.”
At 10 am on the 16th, the names of 13 dead, who did not know when and where they died after being caught by the military police after being caught by the 4·3 craze 70 years ago, were called in order in the court of No. 201 of the Jeju Court. These were prisoners of unknown origin who were sentenced to imprisonment without due process for violating the Defense Security Act or executing civil war between 1948 and 1949. All of these were genocide or missing during the Korean War.
The judge said to the defendants who had been deceased again after 70 years on that day, “The prosecution sought innocence because of no evidence. He said he was not guilty because there was no proof of crime. The judge continued, “Today, the bridle overlaid on the defendants and their bereaved families has been removed, and the defendants who have become immigrants now have only manongji (garlic pickles) on the right and left even in the underworld Even at the table, I hope you can sit around comfortably and share your affection comfortably.”
Park Young-soo (a child of his brother-in-law Park Se-won) said in the court as a representative of the surviving family, “I will give a bow to the temple for the souls from the underworld. My heart is trembling and I cannot speak. Today’s sentence of innocence will remain in history.” The trial ended for about 10 minutes, but the bereaved family couldn’t calm their excitement easily even after leaving the court because it was a thrilling moment that they had been waiting for for over 70 years.
On this day, the court will proceed with a retrial sentence for 335 people, including two surviving prisoners who were unjustly imprisoned for violating the Defense Security Act at the time of the April 3 incident, and 333 prisoners who were missing. The judiciary is also divided into 21 cases in consideration of the bereaved family who wish to hear the sentence directly, and continues the trial in a relay manner throughout the day. The reason why the court sentenced more than 300 defendants at the same time is to finish the trial as soon as possible because most of the surviving prisoners and their survivors who requested retrial are elderly. Some of the actual survivors are known to have died in the process of retrial. For this reason, this trial is expected to be recorded as an unusual trial in court with the largest number of defendants among single-case trials held in Korea.
Kim Young Heon reporter [email protected]
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