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Ms. Lee, the mother of the man convicted of placing a bomb in a bathroom of Yasukuni Shrine, cries as she talks about the treatment her son is receiving in prison during a press conference at the North Jeolla Provincial Police headquarters on Dec. 12. Seated next to her is Roh Byung-man of the civic group, “Protect Dokdo.” (by Park Im-geun, staff reporter)
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Japanese correctional authorities have responded that the accusations are “not factual”
“Please help my son. His human rights are being abused in prison, where they’re throwing centipedes at him to sting him.” Since October, a woman surnamed Lee has been asking that her 29-year-old son surnamed Jeon, who is incarcerated at Fuchu Prison in Tokyo, be quickly transferred to a South Korean prison. Lee claims that Jeon, who was convicted of installing a homemade bomb that blew up in a bathroom at Yasukuni Shrine in Japan two years ago, is a victim of human rights abuses. “My son was spending the night in solitary confinement when one of the guards cursed at him and threw a 20cm long centipede (called a mukade) at his head,” Lee said during a press conference at the North Jeolla Provincial Police headquarters on Dec. 12. “My son can’t see very well because of an eye condition, but he has been beaten several times by the prison guards for doing a poor job on his work. He isn’t getting any decent treatment [for his eyes] either,” Lee said through her sobs. “The South Korean government has been sitting on the request I made in April for my son to be transferred to a South Korean prison. My son wrote a letter to the South Korean consulate in Japan about being assaulted, but there was no response,” Lee added. She also claimed that the Japanese had prevented her from visiting Jeon. “When my son went to prison, he was 185cm tall and weighed 92kg. Currently he weighs half that, and his eyesight has gotten so bad he can barely see in front of him. But the prison refuses to do anything about his bad health.” The South Korean government explained that it firmly asked the Japanese authorities to look into Jeon’s allegations and that Japan had responded that they were not factual. “We will continue to provide consular assistance to ensure that Jeon is not treated inappropriately by the Japanese correctional authorities,” a government spokesman said. The government added that it is working to have Jeon transferred to a South Korean prison, but that no progress has been made on this because of opposition from Japan. “During a consular visit on Oct. 30 and through a handwritten letter that Jeon sent to the consulate [received on Nov. 9], the South Korean Embassy to Japan has heard claims that Jeon has been abused by the [Japanese] correctional authorities through assaults, insults and centipede throwing and that he has been blocked from receiving medical treatment,” South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement released on Dec. 12. The Ministry went on to explain that it had “firmly requested that the Japanese correctional authorities look into this.” “The Japanese correctional authorities responded with the results of two investigations [Nov. 20 and Dec. 4] in which they concluded that the assaults and insults alleged by Jeon were not factual and that appropriate medical treatment was provided whenever he requested it,” the Ministry also said. In other words, the Ministry is still working to ensure that Jeon is not treated unfairly. “The Ministry of Justice received a convict information notice from the Japanese government on Nov. 23 and is currently having it translated,” a source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said when asked about the efforts to have Jeon transferred to South Korea. “The Ministry will probably hold a meeting of its convict transfer review committee in the first half of next year to review Jeon’s case.” The Ministry explained that it is taking the necessary legal steps with the caveat that “a convict can only be transferred to South Korea with Japan’s consent, but Japan has not yet consented to transferring Jeon to South Korea.” Jeon was jailed and charged with setting up an homemade bomb filled with gunpowder in a public bathroom at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Nov. 23, 2015. When the bomb went off, it caused damage to the bathroom ceiling. Jeon was sentenced to four years in prison by the Tokyo District Court in July 2016. He appealed, but his sentence was confirmed by the Tokyo High Court this past February. By Park Im-geun and Kim Ji-eun, staff reporters Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
