A Seoul court has ordered the government to pay 20.7 billion won ($18 million) in compensation to a group of former teachers who were indicted with false espionage charges in 1982.
In what is known as the case of “Osonghoe,” meaning ‘five pine tree association’ in Korean, the eight former teachers were imprisoned after being found guilty of espionage for offering memorial services to the victims of the democratic movements in the 1980s.
“The victims were illegally taken into custody after being arrested without warrants. They were threatened and tortured by investigators and denied meetings with lawyers and their family members. The government should compensate them for the damage they suffered because of the illegalities,” the Seoul Central District Court said in a ruling.
The eight primary plaintiffs, who were teaching at a high school in southern city of Gunsan, were falsely accused of forming an anti-government organization though they had gatherings to discuss a pro-democracy moves under the authoritarian Chun Doo-hwan government.
They were sentenced from one to seven years in prison in 1983. They served their terms in full. The victims applied for a retrial in 2008, and were acquitted of all charges before filing a compensation suit against the government last year.
In determining the amount of compensation, the court said it considered the victims' monetary loss from being unable to work at their jobs and the traumatic stress as well as the pain of their families.
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