By Some of you may remember the deadly Yongsan fire earlier this year that claimed the lives of five protesters and one policeman. Well a number of organizers of this protest have now been convicted in court:
A local court yesterday convicted protesters involved in a deadly Yongsan blaze which claimed the lives of five protesters and a SWAT officer in January. The court’s ruling came six months after proceedings were delayed following several hearings that were interrupted by families and supporters of the protesters.
On Jan. 20, a fire broke out during a clash between police and protesters who were demanding higher compensation for apartments and businesses being demolished as part of a redevelopment project. Protesters continued to occupy the Namildang building despite constant government warnings to withdraw. SWAT officers were dispatched to evict them. The fire erupted after protesters threw Molotov cocktails to try to repel the officers.
Seoul Central District Court handed down six-year jail terms to two of the protesters – Lee Chung-yeon, a leader of a group of evictees from the Yongsan redevelopment site, and Kim Ju-hwan, a senior member of Jeoncheolyeon, or the National Alliance of Squatters and Evictees. They were convicted of planning the occupation of the building. Seven others were given lighter prison terms or suspended sentences of between two to five years on charges of complicity in the clash.
All nine protesters were indicted in February on charges of interfering with government officials and the killing of the SWAT officer. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
For more background information on this incident I recommend reading this post because the people being forcibly evicted from their homes and businesses had some legitimate beefs. However, this is no excuse for the violence that ultimately happened that had deadly consequences. I doubt these guys will do six years in jail once this goes through the appeals process, but hopefully this still serves as a deterent to the professional protesters in Korea that show up and resort to violence against the police force.
4:17 am on October 30th, 2009 1
How long are they going to let those protesters camp out in that burned building? Doesn't Seoul have building safety standards? No, the proof is on the right side of the road on the way to gate 1. Their shrine to those protesters that died is an eye sore. It pretty much looks like a homeless campground. They have been disrupting the flow of traffic by parking their protesting van or their trashy looking shrines in the road. The police sometimes park about 15 buses all along the road. They also disturb the neighborhood by blasting their protesting message on the loud speakers at all hours of the day and sometimes as late as 2200. GO HOME PROTESTERS!!! EIGHT MONTHS IS ENOUGH!!! GET A LIFE AND A JOB!!!
9:31 pm on October 31st, 2009 2
If you look at the pictures of the fire it’s surprising how close the fires were to heavily traveled areas with thousands of innocent people. Those protestors almost killed many more people.
12:01 pm on August 30th, 2010 3
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