The prosecution on Sunday asked a local court to reopen trials of “politically motivated” cases under past authoritarian governments, a month after its new chief apologized for the law enforcement body’s human rights abuses in the past.

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office sought a retrial for six cases, involving 18 people, who it said were falsely accused and convicted over confessions and evidence allegedly fabricated by the prosecution under military-backed governments between the 1960s and 1980s.

It is the first time that state prosecutors admitted to their possible wrongdoings in the investigation process and asked for retrials, on behalf of victims, to seek acquittals for those who they indicted. 

The prosecution, the powerful law enforcement agency holding exclusive rights to indict, has been criticized for decades for aligning with authoritarian governments in stifling political dissent, falsely accusing dissidents and pro-democracy activists during the army-backed rule, which at times led to wrongful convictions and retrials.

The six cases to be reopened are among the 73 cases which a fact-finding governmental committee, run between 2006 and 2010 and dedicated to investigating historically-charged and disputed incidents, recommended for retrials.

The 18 people were the ones who did not ask for a retrial themselves. Others convicted in the six cases sought retrials and were already cleared of charges.

Taeyongho is one such case. In 1968, fishing crews onboard Taeyoungho were captured near Yeonpyeongdo Island by North Korean coast guards while fishing and freed after a four-month detention. They were probed, tortured and convicted of espionage charges upon evidence, which later turned out to have been falsified by the then-military regime.

This time, the prosecution asked the court to retry one of the victims, surnamed Park. He received a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was tortured, beaten and coerced into confessing to a crime he did not commit, according to the fact-finding committee.

Five other victims in the Taeyongho case were cleared of their charges in the 2006 retrial.

The prosecution said it will “strictly” gather evidence and evaluate it to see whether they were wrongfully convicted. It is widely expected to ask for acquittals for the victims in the courtroom.

The prosecution plans to revisit all cases deemed short of abiding by legitimate procedures and protecting human rights, following a formal apology by Prosecutor-General Moon Moo-il over the prosecution’s alleged abuse of power in probing political cases. He vowed to make the prosecution politically neutral and transparent as he took office in August.

There are six other cases, involving 11 people, which the prosecution said will also ask for a retrial.

Reforming the prosecution to free it from political influence is one of the major election promises by President Moon Jae-in.

Public distrust of the prosecution hit rock bottom in recent months in the wake of the corruption scandal involving ousted ex-President Park Geun-hye and business tycoons, with critics accusing prosecutors of being lukewarm in investigating the case and favorable to the Park administration and major conglomerates.

Park is standing trial for bribery, coercion and abuse of power, among other charges, with the ruling expected in October.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)