US Journalists Laura Ling & Euna Lee get 12 Years Hard Labor

by Mary Richard | June 7, 2009 at 09:55 pm
1442 views | 101 Recommendations | 15 comments

A twelve year sentence of hard labor was handed down to US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee in North Korea on Monday. 

North Korea on Monday sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor in a case widely seen as a test of how far the isolated Communist state was willing to take its confrontational stance toward the United States.
This follows a warning on Sunday, by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that the United States was considering putting North Korea back on its list of states that sponsor terrorism.

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{UPDATE} 2 U_S_ Journalist Sentenced To 12 Years In N_ Korean Prison

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{UPDATE} 2 U_S_ Journalist Sentenced To 12 Years In N_ Korean Prison
 

The Central Court of North Korea sentenced Laura Ling and Euna Lee for the "grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing," the Korean Central News Agency said.

As a result, the court sentenced the women to "12 years of reform through labor," meaning they will serve out their sentence in a labor camp.

The U.S. State Department said it had seen the reports of the convictions and was trying to confirm it with Korean authorities.

"We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release," said spokesman Ian Kelley in a statement. "We once again urge North Korea to grant the immediate release of the two American citizen journalists on humanitarian grounds."

Previous NP coverage:


N Korea 'detains US reporters'

US Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee Face Trial in North Korea

Euna Lee, Laura Ling - American journalists held in North Korea

Euna Lee & Laura Ling face up to 10 years in labour camps

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1
Amy Judd

I can't believe it...

3
hidflect

At least they got a trial, even if it was a Kangaroo Court. Any North Koreans wandering over the US border without papers would spend how long in Guantanamo without representation?

1
Merry Rebel

I agree with this...

1
CJaye

Trial my azz, They wouldn't be heald in Gitmo to begin with! The government would take them somewhere else.

The Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp is a detainment facility operated by Joint Task Force Guantánamo of the United States government since 2002 in Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, which is on the shore of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.[1]

The detainment areas consists of three camps in the base: Camp Delta (which includes Camp Echo), Camp Iguana, and Camp X-Ray (which has been closed). The facility is often referred to as Guantánamo, or Gitmo.[2][3] In 2001, President George W. Bush signed an executive order that stipulated that US military could indefinitely detain any non-citizen who he believed was involved in international terrorism. After the Justice Department advised that the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp could be considered outside US legal jurisdiction, prisoners captured in Afghanistan were moved there beginning in early 2002. After the Bush administration asserted that detainees were not entitled to any of the protections of the Geneva Conventions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld on June 29, 2006 that they were entitled to the minimal protections listed under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.[4] Following this, on July 7, 2006, the Department of Defense issued an internal memo stating that prisoners would in the future be entitled to protection under Common Article 3.[5][6][7] The detainees currently held as of June 2008 have been classified by the United States as "enemy combatants".

On January 22, 2009 the White House announced that President Barack Obama had signed an order to suspend the proceedings of the Guantanamo military commission for 120 days and that the detention facility would be shut down within the year.[8][9] On January 29, 2009 a military judge at Guantanamo rejected the White House request in the case of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, creating an unexpected challenge for the administration as it reviews how America puts Guantanamo detainees on trial.[10]

On May 20, 2009, the United States Senate passed an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (H.R. 2346) by a 90-6 vote to block funds to release prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. [3]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp


1
marca tucker

President George W. Bush signed an executive order that stipulated that US military could indefinitely detain any non-citizen who he believed was involved in international terrorism.

2
DennisMelancon

True as that may be, the United States doesn't use prisoners as ransom in talks, which is a strong possibility with North Korea.

Isn't it a little ironic that the trial is concluded right at the same time the UN is about to impose sanctions on North Korea because of their nuclear and missle tests?

5
L-S

this is an outrageous act of injustice. I hope Obama will get on this immediately? They work for Current News founded by Al Gore.

0
subt

"I hope Obama will get on this immediately"

Don't hold you're breath. He's too busy destroying our economy and posturing for our media that worships him.

1
CJaye

It kills me how we haven't heard a word on the local news about this. Even on the world news here NOTHING! This is so wrong.


GMA just came on and said Korea wants a higher official from the US than Al Gore to come to speak to them and a letter from a higher official of apology. This is the first time other than when Lisa Ling came on GMA and talked about it last week that information has been given.

0
marca tucker

omg i agree with you. the media can be so biased its ridiculous.

1
djermano

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_entry..

Seems that US immigration laws are rather Liberal compared to N. Korea.....but there are many in the US who wish there were N. Korean Immigration Laws on US books....

Rev. Jermano

1
Barbara McPherson

The 'revered leader' is quite the poker player.  I wonder what he thinks he's playing at this time.

1
Trainrek

Let this be a lesson to you: anything bad happens to you abroad, your captors get a nasty letter from Hillary. . .and not much more!

1
subt

Maybe this should be a wake up call...if Obama and the UN was unable to stop something as small as the jailing of two innocent reporters then how is NK going to be stopped from producing high yield nuclear warheads and long range missiles to go with them?

Good going Obama!

2
A. Tran

Several political analysts have mentioned that North Korea will use the two journalists to leverage their demands from the United States because sending the two women to their labor camp would be useless to NK's negotiations with the US.

The New York Times has the following assessments:

WASHINGTON — President Obama and his top national security aides on Monday urged North Korea to release “on humanitarian grounds” two American journalists sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for entering North Korean territory. But administration officials said that the harsh sentences were likely to be used as a negotiating ploy by the North as it tries to avoid new sanctions in response to its nuclear test two weeks ago.

American officials said they feared that any discussions with the North about the release of Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee could get caught up in the Byzantine politics of succession in the North Korean capital. In recent weeks, there have been numerous reports that the leader, Kim Jong-il, has settled on his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor, a step that the North Korean military and China, North Korea’s reluctant patron, are believed to oppose.

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