April 3 massacre victims confirmed innocent 70 years after incident
- 5 years ago
The April Third Massacre on Jeju Island is widely considered to be one of the major events in South Korea's modern history.
Thousands of people were accused of being "communists" over their protest of the government,... which led to almost 10- percent of the island's population being executed.
But after some 70 years,... some of those who were wrongly convicted of being "guilty",... were able to find some redemption.
Our Yoon Jung-min has this story.
Eighteen living victims of the April 3rd massacre in Jeju island,... who had been imprisoned without proper legal procedures were cleared of charges Thursday, some 70 years after the incident.
The Jeju District Court overturned the military rulings handed down during the massacre, declaring them "invalid" due to lack of proper legal procedures.
It's the first time the judiciary has acknowledged the rulings under martial law as invalid.
From 1948 to 1954, at a time of ideological conflict, an estimated 30-thousand civilians on Jeju Island were killed or imprisoned under a government-led anti-communist suppression campaign.
Most of the victims were labeled communists and wrongly imprisoned by military courts for violating national security and committing acts of rebellion.
The Jeju court, however, said the victims were not made aware of the criminal charges they faced at the time,... and took into account the fact that numerous people were brought before military courts hastily and without due process.
The Jeju court's ruling was attended by the victims themselves, some of them in their 80s and 90s, their families and civil activist groups, who welcomed the judgement,... and some of whom shed tears.
Among the 18 victims who brought the suit, one woman, born in 1921, had been sentenced to 20 years.
She thanked the court for clearing her of the false charges and confirming her innocence.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.
Thousands of people were accused of being "communists" over their protest of the government,... which led to almost 10- percent of the island's population being executed.
But after some 70 years,... some of those who were wrongly convicted of being "guilty",... were able to find some redemption.
Our Yoon Jung-min has this story.
Eighteen living victims of the April 3rd massacre in Jeju island,... who had been imprisoned without proper legal procedures were cleared of charges Thursday, some 70 years after the incident.
The Jeju District Court overturned the military rulings handed down during the massacre, declaring them "invalid" due to lack of proper legal procedures.
It's the first time the judiciary has acknowledged the rulings under martial law as invalid.
From 1948 to 1954, at a time of ideological conflict, an estimated 30-thousand civilians on Jeju Island were killed or imprisoned under a government-led anti-communist suppression campaign.
Most of the victims were labeled communists and wrongly imprisoned by military courts for violating national security and committing acts of rebellion.
The Jeju court, however, said the victims were not made aware of the criminal charges they faced at the time,... and took into account the fact that numerous people were brought before military courts hastily and without due process.
The Jeju court's ruling was attended by the victims themselves, some of them in their 80s and 90s, their families and civil activist groups, who welcomed the judgement,... and some of whom shed tears.
Among the 18 victims who brought the suit, one woman, born in 1921, had been sentenced to 20 years.
She thanked the court for clearing her of the false charges and confirming her innocence.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.