Yoon Seong-yeo, who had been imprisoned for 20 years after being convicted of the 8th serial murder of Lee Chun-jae, was acquitted at a retrial. The retrial judge apologized for failing to fulfill its role by the judiciary, which should be the last bastion of human rights.
This is Kim Sang-min.
[피고인은 잠시 일어나주시겠어요? 피고인은 무죄. 이상 재심 재판 마치도록 하겠습니다.]
In the courtroom, applause broke out when Yoon Seong-yeo, who had been imprisoned for 20 years after being convicted of the 8th Hwaseong murder case, was acquitted.
It has been about a year since the reconsideration began with Lee Chun-jae’s confession.
In 1988, the police, who had a hard time investigating the murder of a middle school girl, pointed out a young man in the village as a suspect the following year.
After over 70 hours of illegal imprisonment, sleep imprisonment or cruelty such as squatting, he received false confession.
Yun, who was sentenced to life imprisonment at the first trial, denied the charges at the higher trial, and appealed for resentment, but was not accepted.
The retrial judge decided that the confession of Mr. Yoon was being subjected to abusive behavior while being illegally arrested and confined, and that the results of the body hair analysis of the Gukbu tree adopted as evidence at the time were also unreliable.
In addition, I thought that Lee Chun-jae’s confession statement was specific, so it was highly reliable.
The judge apologized on behalf of the judiciary.
[박정제/재심 재판장 (수원지법 부장판사) : 법원이 인권의 마지막 보루로서의 역할을 제대로 시행하지 못한 점에 대하여, 사법부 구성원의 일원으로서 사과의 말씀을 드립니다.]
Yoon conveyed the regret with a calm expression.
[윤성여/재심 청구인 : 저 같은 사람이 안 나오길 바랄 뿐이고, 모든 공정한 재판이 이뤄졌으면 하는 게 제 바람입니다.]
Yoon’s lawyers said they welcomed the decision of the retrial, but said they would file a lawsuit for damages against the state to hold accountability for illegal acts by the investigative agency and misjudgment by the court.
(Video coverage: Kim Myung-gu, video editing: Kim Jong-tae)
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