Rev. Oh-sung Kwon, photo via oikoumene.org

Korean church leaders liken death penalty ruling to 'State violence'

Korean church leaders have criticised a ruling that the death penalty is constitutional, calling it "an expression of violence committed by State power," reports Ecumenical News International.

"We believe that the judgment is against the right to life as a basic right of the Constitution," said the Rev. Oh-Sung Kwon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea, in a statement. It was co-signed by the Rev. Sang-Bok Jung, who chairs the council's justice and peace committee.

On 25 February, South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, in favour of the death penalty that was imposed on a 72-year-old fisherman, who had been tried for murder for a second time and had his conviction from 14 years earlier, was upheld.

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TAGS: South Korea Korean church leaders death penalty Rev. Oh-Sung Kwon Rev. Sang-Bok Jung

[03/11/2010]

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