24-year-old American citizen Matthew Miller of Bakersfield California was sentenced to six years of hard labor after a 90-minute trial on Sunday by the DPRK’s Supreme Court.
Held in custody since 10 April, Miller was found guilty of committing "hostile acts" while in the country as a tourist. North Korea issued a short statement which described Miller as having committed acts that were “hostile to the DPRK while entering the territory of the DPRK under the guise of a tourist last April,” but the nature of the charges was not elaborated on any further.
North Korean state media reported around the time of Miller’s arrest that he had torn up his tourist visa and demanded asylum in Pyongyang after arriving in April this year.
However, the Associated Press, which was allowed to attend the trial, reported that the prosecution argued that Miller’s claim for asylum was a cover up, and that he tore up his tourist visa upon arrival in Pyongyang airport in order to see what North Korea’s prisons were like, to investigate the country’s human rights situation.
The court ruled that this was a violation of Article 64 of North Korea’s criminal code, which means his offense was seen as an act of espionage, which can carry a sentence between five to 10 years' hard labor or worse, depending on the case. The prosecution also accused Miller of falsely claiming to have intelligence on the US military’s activity in South Korea on his iPad and iPod.
Miller, denied his right to a lawyer, was taken away in handcuffs after his sentencing and was also denied any form of appeal to the court’s decision. In a brief interview with CNN, he said that he was “prepared to violate the law” in North Korea, and “was expecting to be detained,” despite not knowing the details of his charges.
Miller has become the third US citizen currently detained in North Korea. Jeffrey Fowle, aged 56, from Miamisburg, Ohio is yet to find out the date of his trial. Fowle was arrested in May this year for placing a Bible under a bin in the toilet of a sailors' club in Chongjin, a port city on North Korea’s east coast.
Jeffery Fowle - Arrested in North Korea this year for reportedly leaving a bible in a club toilet.
American tour guide and missionary Kenneth Bae has been in North Korean custody since December 2012 and is serving a of 15 years' hard labor for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government of North Korea.
Kenneth Bae - Serving a sentence of hard labor after being found guilty for attempts to overthrow the State of the DPRK
The US State Department has called for the release of all three of its citizens. Daniel Russel, the US Assistant Secretary of State and senior diplomat for East Asia, accused North Korea of using the three prisoners as “pawns.” It’s believed by some that North Korea is using these American prisoners for political leverage to extract high profile visits from Washington, which has no formal relations with the DPRK.
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