An American citizen sentenced to 15 years of hard labour for what Pyongyang has described as hostile acts against the state started life today at a ‘special prison,’ state media said.
No other details were immediately available about the new development for Kenneth Bae, the American arrested in November who Pyongyang accuses of trying to establish an anti-Pyongyang base in the North.
Two South Korean experts on North Korean law said they didn’t know what a ‘special prison’ was.
A North Korean academic, using information provided by the government, told The Associated Press earlier this week that Bae had told his family in a phone call that he couldn’t appeal his April 30 sentence and that they should urge Washington to push for his amnesty. Washington has called for Bae’s release, and the human rights group Amnesty International has criticised Bae’s lack of access to a lawyer.
Pyongyang claims he confessed and didn’t want an attorney present during his sentencing.
No other details were immediately available about the new development for Kenneth Bae, the American arrested in November who Pyongyang accuses of trying to establish an anti-Pyongyang base in the North.
Two South Korean experts on North Korean law said they didn’t know what a ‘special prison’ was.
A North Korean academic, using information provided by the government, told The Associated Press earlier this week that Bae had told his family in a phone call that he couldn’t appeal his April 30 sentence and that they should urge Washington to push for his amnesty. Washington has called for Bae’s release, and the human rights group Amnesty International has criticised Bae’s lack of access to a lawyer.
Pyongyang claims he confessed and didn’t want an attorney present during his sentencing.