hankyoreh

April 2.

The police rounded up 240 citizens who participated in a gathering held in Seoul, April 30 to May 2, commemorating the one-year anniversary of last April candlelight vigil demonstrations. A police announcement of harsh punishment has led to concerns of mass arrest.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said on Sunday that it round up 241 people. It also said that it arrested a person with the surname Bae, and requested arrest warrants against 4 people, including a person with the surname Lee. It sent 31 people to summary justice and will decide whether it requests arrest warrant against 205 who are now investigated. The police round up 30 persons on April 30, 71 persons on May 1, and 112 persons on May 2.

Around 50 civic organizations, including the National Conference for People’s Livelihood and Democracy, aimed to hold a ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of candlelight vigil demonstrations on May 2 at Cheonggye Plaza and Seoul Station. The participants said “The Lee Myung-bak government attributes the responsibility of economic polarization to the people. The people have to fight the dictatorship of government with the spirit we showed last year in the candlelight demonstrations.”

The police did not allow the demonstration to take place, and deployed 13 thousand police to block the rally. In response, citizens moved to the Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall and occupied the “Hi Seoul Festival” stage, leading the Seoul city government to cancel the festival. Some participants fought against police on the street by throwing bricks.

Ahn Jin-gul, the chief policy maker of National Conference for People’s Livelihood and Democracy criticized police, saying, “The police’s blockade led to unnecessary violence. The police’s use of excessive force to break up the demonstrations was the cause of the violence.”

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