Ex-activist may sue gov't after acquittal

By Jung Min-ho

Kang Ki-hoon, a former student activist who was acquitted of abetting a fellow activist’s suicide and ghostwriting his suicide note, is considering suing the government for his “lost years.”

On a radio program on Friday, his lawyer Song Sang-kyo said he and Kang will discuss whether to sue the government for a three-year prison term Kang served and mental damage the error of the nation’s justice system caused him over the past 24 years.

This came a day after the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of Kang, who was convicted in 1991 for helping fellow activist Kim Ki-sul set himself on fire, and for ghostwriting Kim’s suicide note.

“The government is obviously responsible for the damage,” Song said. “After trampling over the life of an innocent man, the government has not even apologized.

“But the problem is that he is ill. So he and a group of lawyers need to talk about whether to take legal action.”

At the time of the accusation 24 years ago, Kang denied the allegations, but prosecutors indicted him on the charges without sufficient evidence. The only evidence they provided were examination results from the National Forensic Service that confirmed Kang wrote the suicide note.

The guilty ruling came when a rash of protests engulfed the country, demanding more democracy and the resignation of then-President Roh Tae-woo.

However, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a special committee established in 2005 to reinvestigate past security-related cases, ruled in 2007 that the prosecutors pinned false charges on Kang.

Yet it took eight more years for him to be found innocent by a Seoul High Court ruling in February 2014. But the prosecutor took the case to the Supreme Court, which held it for another year.

Over the years, as his case was fought, Kang was diagnosed with liver cancer. Song said Kang has been under enormous stress. Kang could not even show up for the Supreme Court’s ruling because of health issues.

“The case could have ended much earlier,” Song said. “The Seoul High Court decided on a retrial in 2009. But the prosecution appealed and the Supreme Court delayed the case for no logical reason.”