hankyoreh

Jee Man-won leaves a courthouse in this undated photo. (Yonhap)

A prison sentence has been handed down to Jee Man-won, 81, who stood trial for defaming citizens who participated in the 1980 pro-democracy movement in Gwangju by referring to them as “North Korean soldiers.”

Although Jee had avoided being arrested in court at lower-level trials due to his advanced age, he is now expected to be formally detained soon.

On Thursday, the third division of the Supreme Court, headed by judge Noh Jeong-hee, confirmed the lower court’s sentence of two years imprisonment for Jee, who had been indicted on charges of violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Data Protection, defamation, and slander of the dead.

Jee is accused of calling Gwangju citizens who participated in the May 18 pro-democratic uprising “gwangsu,” or “North Korean special forces in Gwangju,” and for defaming the late Kim Sa-bok, a real figure who appeared in the movie “Taxi Driver,” as a “commie.”

Besides this, Jee was also charged with defaming the Gwangju Catholic diocese’s justice and peace committee by calling it “communist.”

The first trial sentenced Jee to two years in prison and a fine of 1 million won (US$803).

“It is recognized that [Jee’s actions] were meant to slander by denigrating the historical significance and value of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement,” the court ruled at the time.

Regarding Jee, the second trial ruled that “the nature and circumstances of the crimes are bad, and the number of crimes is not small. [Jee] has not been forgiven by the victims and does not appear to be remorseful about these incidents.”

The court ended up sentencing Jee to two years imprisonment, concluding that “since the legal and historical evaluation of the May 18 Democratization Movement has been established, it does not look like the social assessment of the Movement will fundamentally change due to Jee's crimes.”

However, out of consideration for Jee's advanced age, he was not subject to court arrest.

The Supreme Court confirmed the lower court's verdict, saying the lower court's ruling was sound and had not violated any legal principles of logic or customary practice or gone beyond the scope of the principle of free evaluation of evidence.

The ruling that sentenced the defendant without detention to imprisonment has now been finalized. The only step left is for prosecutors to enforce the sentence.

By Shin Min-jung, staff reporter

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