Court overturns wrongful treason convictions

SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- A high court on Thursday acquitted a group of people convicted of treason during the military rule in the early 1980s, saying they were tortured into giving false testimonies about their affiliation with an anti-government group fabricated by authorities.

The Seoul High Court acquitted Park Hae-jeon, 54, and five others who were
convicted in 1981 of forming an anti-government activist group called "Aramhoe."
It was belatedly found that Aramhoe was an imaginary group invented by
prosecutors at that time.
The former high school classmates and their families filed a suit against the
government in 2007 after a state-led truth commission concluded they had been
convicted on groundless charges. They served prison terms from 18 months to 10
years.
"We acknowledge the wrongdoings by the authorities, in which they confined Park
and others after unwarranted arrests and tortured them by various means," the
court said.