North Korea jails US man for ‘hostile acts
A North Korean court has sentenced an American man to six years of hard labour for “hostile acts”, the state-run KCNA news agency has said.
Matthew Miller was arrested in April, shortly after arriving as a tourist.
The US accuses North Korea of using Mr Miller and two other detained Americans as pawns in a diplomatic game.
The North Korean authorities have not specified the charges against Mr Miller, but they claim he tore up his visa and demanded asylum.
During the trial, prosecutors said Mr Miller admitted having a “wild ambition” to spend time in a North Korean prison so he could find out about the country’s human rights situation, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Notes produced in court also suggested he had become a fugitive because he was involved with Wikileaks, the organisation that has leaked US state secrets.
Our correspondent in Seoul, Steve Evans, says it is impossible to know how those notes were written – whether under duress or not – and it is not clear whether there is any truth to the allegations.
After a 90-minute trial, the sentence was handed down and Mr Miller was handcuffed and led from the room, AP reports.
The White House has described securing the release of Mr Miller and the two other American citizens detained in North Korea as a “top priority.”
In the past the US has been able to negotiate the release of American detainees.
Notably two journalists who were held whilst filming a documentary in North Korea were granted a “special pardon” after former President Clinton travelled to the country.
The US has offered several times to send Robert King, its special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to Pyongyang to discuss the detainees, but these visits have been cancelled by North Korea.
Matthew Miller was arrested in April, shortly after arriving as a tourist.
The US accuses North Korea of using Mr Miller and two other detained Americans as pawns in a diplomatic game.
The North Korean authorities have not specified the charges against Mr Miller, but they claim he tore up his visa and demanded asylum.
During the trial, prosecutors said Mr Miller admitted having a “wild ambition” to spend time in a North Korean prison so he could find out about the country’s human rights situation, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
Notes produced in court also suggested he had become a fugitive because he was involved with Wikileaks, the organisation that has leaked US state secrets.
Our correspondent in Seoul, Steve Evans, says it is impossible to know how those notes were written – whether under duress or not – and it is not clear whether there is any truth to the allegations.
After a 90-minute trial, the sentence was handed down and Mr Miller was handcuffed and led from the room, AP reports.
The White House has described securing the release of Mr Miller and the two other American citizens detained in North Korea as a “top priority.”
In the past the US has been able to negotiate the release of American detainees.
Notably two journalists who were held whilst filming a documentary in North Korea were granted a “special pardon” after former President Clinton travelled to the country.
The US has offered several times to send Robert King, its special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to Pyongyang to discuss the detainees, but these visits have been cancelled by North Korea.
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