SUH JOON-SIK TRIAL
UPDATE by the SARANGBAN GROUP FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

3 February 1998

South Korea : Arrested Human Rights Activist SUH Joon-sik's 1st Trial Held

The first trial for Suh Joon-sik was held at the Seoul District Court Western Branch on January 30, 1998, under the supervision of a district judge, Jung-Yeul CHOI. More than 150 persons participated in that trial and showed their deep concern and support for Suh.

It is a practice that un-convicted prisoners are in detention wearing shrouds in Korea. They also are put to trial wearing shrouds. Mr. Suh had asserted that this practice infringes un-convicted prisoners' rights and is unconstitutional. Therefore, he appealed to the Constitutional Court on 6 January, 1998. Further, Mr. Suh's lawyers requested that Mr. Suh should put on casual suit during the trial. However, the judge, Jung-Yeul CHOI rejected it. Moreover, he denied the request by the defense to audio-tape-record the trial process.

At first, Mr. Suh made the accused's statement. Then there was an inquiry by the prosecutor and that of the lawyers were followed. Mr. Suh's statement was read for an hour and it represented his asserts and belief. [The Sarangbang Group for Human Rights is translating Suh's statement into English and will make it available soon.]

The prosecutor, Yong-Ho KIM tried to inquire whether Mr. Suh met North Korean representatives during the UN World Conference for Human Rights in 1993 and his visits to Germany in 1997. The prosecutor also examined his brothers' political inclinations, who have lived in Japan. The aim was to find whether they are pro-North or pro-South. Mr. Suh rejected answer because those questions were not related to the charges. Consequently, the prosecutor insisted that Mr. Suh ignored basic orders of a democratic system and is oriented towards socialism. In short, the prosecutor's assertion was that Mr. Suh have been engaged in activities for benefiting North-Korea.

The next trial will be held on 20 February, 1998.

Mr. Suh's lawyers applied for his bail on 30 December 1997. However, the judge have delayed the decision to grant Mr. Suh's bail.

Mr. Suh is still kept in detention in jail under sub-zero temperature. Please keep up your interest for the case of Mr. Suh.

[This message was sent by the SARANGBANG Group for Human Rights, TEL : +82-2-741-5363 FAX : +82-2-741-5364, E-MAIL: rights@chollian.net, Web: http://www.interpia.net/~rights, 4th Fl., 8-29, Myunglyun-2Ga Dong, JongRo-Gu, Seoul, Korea (110-522).]