COMPENSATION FOR WRONGLY CONVICTED MEN

[Anchor Lead]

The court ruled that the state must pay 1.5 billion won in compensation to the three men wrongly convicted of killing the owner of Samnye Nara Super 22 years ago. The court also ordered that the investigating prosecutor of the case pay a portion of the compensation. Victims asked for sincere apologies from the police and prosecution in charge back then.

[Pkg]

An old lady was killed while being robbed at a small shop in Samnye, Jeollabuk-do Province in 1999. Police at the time accused three young men living nearby of the crime, and interrogated them.

[Soundbite] (POLICE(DURING THE ON-SCENE INSPECTION IN 1999)) : "Sit down, you punk. Sit! Go over there. Put it over the mouth. Support the head. That’s right."

The so-called Samnye trio made a false confession and spent up to five and a half years in prison. During their incarceration, the real killers were caught and one of them even confessed, but the prosecutor cleared them all. In a retrial that took place 17 years after the incident, the real confession was admitted and the trio was cleared of all charges.

[Soundbite] "Hurrah, hurrah!"

A damage compensation suit followed the retrial. After nearly four years of deliberation, the Seoul Central District Court ordered that the state pay 1.5 billion won in damage compensation to the three men and that a Prosecutor surnamed Choi, who was in charge of the investigation at the time, cover 300 million won of the amount. The court stated that illegal investigation left irrevocable damage on innocent men and such injustice should never recur in a democratic, law-abiding country.

[Soundbite] CHOI DAE-YEOL(FALSELY CONVICTED AS A ROBBER) : "I want all my family members to be happy from now on."

Families of the robbery victim and one of the real robbers known only by his surname Lee, also attended the sentencing hearing. They lent support to the falsely charged men’s effort to reveal the truth and receive due compensation.

[Soundbite] PARK SEONG-WOO(FAMILY OF ROBBERY-MURDER VICTIM) : "Is there any more ironic story than this case involving a victim, her family, wrong criminals, a real killer? I hope to see no more of these stories in Korea."

The trio wants sincere apologies from the police and prosecution in charge of the case at the time.