"21 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment for the 'Nakdonggang Riverside Murder Case'... 'If Only the Police Had Made One Phone Call'"

Choi In-cheol and Jang Dong-ik, victims of the "Nakdong Riverside Murder Case," who endured wrongful imprisonment for 21 years after being falsely accused of murder due to police torture, clasped hands after the retrial verdict hearing held at the Busan High Court on the morning of the 4th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hana Na] Victims who were wrongfully imprisoned after being falsely accused as perpetrators of the 'Nakdong Riverside Murder Case' have been acquitted in a retrial, but they criticized the police apology for lacking sincerity.

Park Jun-young, the lawyer representing victims Choi In-cheol and Jang Dong-ik, who were falsely accused in the Nakdong Riverside Murder Case, expressed doubt about the sincerity of the police apology on his SNS on the 5th, stating, "None of the victims or their families were contacted in advance regarding the police apology statement."

Lawyer Park pointed out, "The deep condolences and apologies mentioned twice at the beginning and end lack sincerity," adding, "Most apologies from this country's public authorities are like this."

He continued, "Similar content was present in the apologies for the Samrye incident and the Yakchon Five-way Intersection incident that occurred four years ago," and criticized, "I have never heard about when and how the problems were analyzed, what results were produced, and how these results will be used for the future."

He further stated, "If only a single consoling phone call had been made to the victims and their families before the apology, the victims would not have reacted this way," and emphasized, "Apologies from state institutions made for show do not help the victims' recovery at all."

The 'Nakdong Riverside Murder Case' refers to an incident in January 1990, where a man and woman in their 30s, dating in a car near the reed fields by the Nakdong River in Eomgung-dong, Sasang-gu, Busan, were kidnapped; the woman was sexually assaulted and murdered, and the man was injured.

The police, one year and ten months after the incident, identified Choi and Jang, who were under investigation for another case, as the perpetrators of this case. Although they claimed that they falsely confessed to murder due to enduring water torture and beatings during the police investigation, the court did not accept their claims and sentenced them to life imprisonment in 1993.

After serving 21 years, the two were released in 2013 as model prisoners and filed for a retrial, which was decided in January last year.

On the 4th, the Busan High Court acquitted Choi and Jang in the retrial ruling.

In response, the National Police Agency issued a statement on the 5th, saying, "We offer our deepest condolences and apologies to the retrial petitioners, victims, families, and all involved," and acknowledged, "We are deeply ashamed that we failed to adhere to due process and human rights-centered investigation principles during the investigation at that time."

They also stated, "We will thoroughly analyze the investigative issues confirmed during the retrial ruling and trial process, take this case as a lesson to re-recognize the value of human rights protection, and make every effort to ensure that no innocent victims suffer again."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.