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North Korea begins trial of captured US journalists

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] North Korean state media outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced Thursday that the Pyongyang Central Court has begun the trial of two US journalists. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested in March for allegedly crossing into North Korea while reporting on North Korean refugees in China for Current TV. Ling and Lee are charged with unspecified "hostile acts," which the South Korea Ministry of Unification says may include espionage charges that carry a minimum sentence of five years in a labor camp. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the charges "baseless," and Phillip Crowley, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, said that "there is no higher priority that we have than protection of American civilians abroad. And we ... hope that North Korea will forego this legal process and return them to the United States." Free press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that the women were arrested while conducting "solely journalistic" work, and called on the court to show lenience by acquitting them on all charges. The trial comes at a sensitive time for US-North Korean relations. Last week, North Korea conducted a second nuclear test in defiance of 2006 UN Security Council ban on nuclear or missile tests by the country. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and other world leaders condemned the test. In April, North Korea also violated the resolution when it fired a rocket in an attempt to put a satellite into space and test its missile technology, after ordering UN nuclear inspectors out of the country. In October 2008, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Mohamed ElBaradei said he wants North Korea to return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty after a five-year absence. In 2007, North Korea agreed that it would end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid as part of a multi-stage initiative by the Six Party Talks.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 04, 2009 (boomark / email).