Vol. 78/No. 8      March 3, 2014

Lee Seok-ki, an elected member of South Korea’s National Assembly, was sentenced to 12 years in prison plus an additional 10-year ban on running for office. Six other party members received sentences ranging from four to seven years. The party won 13 seats in the 300-member assembly.

Lee said the frame-up was a “medieval witch hunt.” The South Korean branch of Amnesty International called the ruling “a violation of the rights to freedom of thought and expression.”

“Lee Seok-ki sought to undermine the legitimacy of the South Korean state and destroy the constitutional order for the purpose of regime change,” the judge ruled. There is no right to a jury trial in South Korea.

The judge’s ruling admits that the alleged conspiracy “did not reach the stage of a detailed plan.”

The judge also ruled that the seven violated the law by circulating North Korean literature. Prosecutors had asked that Lee be jailed for 20 years.

Lee was only allowed to consult his defense lawyers in the presence of the prosecution and has been blocked from receiving letters or visitors, the Global Research website reported.

The government arrested Lee on Sept. 5, 2013, claiming he headed a secret Revolutionary Organization, had discussed how to sabotage key installations and infrastructure across the South in case of war with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and that Lee spoke in favor of the government in the North.

As evidence, the government presented testimony from an informer and transcripts of May 10 and 12 meetings of the United Progressive Party where Lee spoke. According to South Korea’s Hankyoreh daily, the transcript “was altered in 272 places” by the government spy agency.

The United Progressive Party announced plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.
 
 
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