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SEOUL: Former South Korean dictator Chun Doo-hwan was found guilty of defaming a dead priest on Monday in connection with a pro-democracy uprising that crushed his troops 40 years ago.
The 89-year-old fell asleep when the verdict was read in Gwangju, where the 1980 demonstrations ended in a bloodbath, but was unable to return to prison.
The official death or missing figure is about 200, but activists say it may have been three times higher, and Chun is known as the “Butcher of Gwangju.”
It still denies any direct involvement in cracking down on the uprising, and in a 2017 memoir denounced a priest who had repeatedly testified that helicopter gunships had opened fire on civilians, such as “Satan in a mask.”
Under South Korea’s libel law, defamation can be a crime and a civil matter, family members can file complaints on behalf of the deceased, and the truth is not necessarily a defense.
The priest’s family filed a criminal defamation complaint against Chun and prosecutors brought him to trial.
“Chun was aware of the helicopter fire,” the court said, adding that only Chun had “primary responsibility” for the victims.
He gave him an eight-month suspended sentence, well short of the 18-month prison term requested by prosecutors, and the Yonhap news agency quoted the judge asking him to “sincerely atone” for his deeds.
Wearing a mask and black hat, Chun, who was not detained during the trial, did not speak to reporters when he left.
Chun ruled South Korea with an iron fist during the 1980s. He oversaw the country’s economic rise and won the right to host the 1988 Summer Olympics, but he also brutally repressed his opponents until mass demonstrations forced him to accept democracy.
He was the first president of the country to hand over power peacefully, but he remains one of its most vilified figures.
In 1996, he was convicted of treason and sentenced to death, partly for the events in Gwangju, but his execution was commuted on appeal and he was released after a presidential pardon.
The four living former presidents of South Korea are currently in prison or have previously served prison terms. AFP
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