[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The prison sentence of Ji Man-won (81), who has claimed that North Korean troops were involved in the May 18 Democratic Uprising, has been finalized.
On the 12th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Noh Jeong-hee) upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing Ji to two years in prison in the appeal trial on charges including defamation and defamation of the deceased under the Information and Communications Network Act. A fine of 5 million won was also confirmed for Son Sang-dae, CEO of Newstown, who was charged with defamation under the same law.
The court stated, "There is no error such as failure to conduct necessary hearings for the lower court's judgment, violation of the rules of logic and experience, exceeding the limits of free evaluation of evidence, misunderstanding or omission of legal principles regarding the crime of violating the Information and Communications Network Act, defamation of the deceased, defamation by publication concerning the specification of facts, identification of victims, false facts, intent, purpose of defamation, and justifiable acts, or lack of reasons."
It added, "Furthermore, upon reviewing the records, there is no error such as infringement of the defendant's right to defense and right to argue in the trial procedure as claimed in the grounds for appeal."
Ji was accused of damaging the reputation of citizens who participated in the May 18 Democratic Uprising by falsely referring to them as 'Gwangju North Korean Special Forces' on the homepage he operated. Prosecutors found that those Ji labeled as North Korean special forces were actually citizens who took part in the democratic movement.
Additionally, Ji was charged with defamation for calling the late Kim Sa-bok, a real person depicted in the film Taxi Driver, a "Red," and for referring to the Catholic Gwangju Archdiocese Justice and Peace Committee as "communists."
In the first trial, Ji was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 1 million won, but due to his advanced age and the court's assessment that there was no risk of evidence tampering or flight, he was not detained in court.
The court stated, "Ji caused a situation that led to the misunderstanding that citizens who participated in the democratic movement were North Korean troops," adding, "The grounds for claiming they were North Korean troops are considerably insufficient, and the intent is malicious, making the nature of the crime serious."
In the second trial, the court ruled differently from the first trial on some of Ji's charges but still found him guilty of major charges and sentenced him to two years in prison. However, the second trial court also did not detain Ji in court.
The court said, "Although the nature of the crime and circumstances are bad and there appears to be no remorse regarding these incidents, since the legal and historical evaluation of the May 18 Democratic Uprising has been established, it is unlikely that social evaluation of the May 18 Democratic Uprising will fundamentally change due to Ji's crimes."
The May 18 Memorial Foundation and the public law organizations of the May 18 groups (the Association of the Wounded, the Bereaved Families Association, and the Meritorious Persons Association) evaluated, "This ruling signifies the end of distortion and disparagement of the May 18 Democratic Uprising."
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