Police Officers Who Inflicted 21 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment Through Torture Finally Indicted for Perjury

The investigators behind the "Nakdong River Murder Case," who framed innocent people for murder through torture and caused them to spend over 20 years in prison, have been indicted on charges of perjury during the retrial.

The prosecution has indicted four out of the five former police officers who were sued by Choi In-cheol and Jang Dong-ik for perjury.

Previously, the police had referred three of the five accused individuals to the prosecution while deciding not to refer the other two. However, following an objection filed by the victims, the entire case was transferred to the prosecution.

The prosecution decided not to indict one of the three individuals referred by the police, but indicted the remaining two. Additionally, the two individuals whom the police had initially decided not to refer were also brought to trial.

The one individual who was not indicted was not a police officer who directly participated in the torture and abuse, but was a person whom the victims had sued, believing they were deeply involved in fabricating the case.

The victims stated, "It is a relief that the police's decision not to refer the officers who committed torture and abuse has been corrected by the prosecution," adding, "However, it is difficult to understand why the person who appears to have been deeply involved in fabricating the case, even if they did not participate in the torture and abuse, was not indicted. We will challenge this through an appeal."

Previously, Choi and Jang filed a complaint with the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency in March, alleging that the former police officers gave false testimony during the retrial process by claiming they "could not remember."

The Nakdong River Murder Case occurred in 1990 when a couple on a date in a car near the Nakdong River was kidnapped by assailants; the woman was sexually assaulted and murdered, and the man was injured.

One year and 10 months after the incident, Choi and Jang were arrested as murder suspects and sentenced to life imprisonment. They were released in 2013 after serving 21 years.

Later, in April 2019, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Past Affairs Committee announced that the culprits had been fabricated through torture, and the Busan High Court acquitted the two men in their retrial in February 2021.

Subsequently, the court finalized a ruling ordering the state to pay 7.2 billion won in compensation to the two men.

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Jung Yu-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.