North Korean “Court” Sentences Aijalon Gomes to 8 Years at Hard Labor
ransom fine of $70,000 for walking across the border into North Korea.
An American has been sentenced to eight years of hard labor and fined the equivalent of $700,000 for illegal entry into North Korea. Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 30, who had taught English in South Korea, is the fourth U.S. citizen in the past year to walk into North Korea from China and get arrested. [Washington Post, Blaine Harden]
More recent reports suggest that Gomes knew and may have been inspired by the dubious example of Robert Park, who walked across the border openly and presented a petition for Kim Jong Il to the border guards. Needless to say, no sentence of this kind would have been passed by any fair and independent legal system anywhere on earth. Were Gomes a North Korean, this would be a death sentence.
“His guilt was confirmed according to the relevant articles of the criminal code of the DPRK (North Korea) at the trial,” KCNA said.
“The accused admitted all the facts which had been put under accusation. The presence of representatives of the Swedish embassy here to witness the trial was allowed as an exception at the request of the Swedish side protecting the U.S. interests,” KCNA said. [Reuters]
There’s little doubt that Kim Jong Il will exact the maximum profit from Mr. Gomes’s well-meaning and ill-considered gesture:
Gomes, also a human rights activist, seems likely to be used by North Korea as a bargaining chip, as it negotiates with the United States and four other countries over the resumption of stalled nuclear disarmament talks.
North Korea could be in a mood to talk, as there are widespread reports of starvation deaths inside the country due to a bad harvest and bungled currency reform that disrupted food markets. In addition, U.N. sanctions are believed to be squeezing the government, limiting its sales of arms and missiles. [WaPo]
Nothing good will come of this, least of all for the North Korean people.