Kang Ki-hun, a 27-year-old political activist, is serving a three-year prison term on charges of aiding and abetting the protest suicide of a colleague. Prior to his arrest in June 1991, Kang Ki-hun worked for the dissident group Chonminnyon. During a period of civil unrest, sparked off by the death of a student at the hands of riot police, nine young people committed self-immolation as an extreme form of protest. Chonminnyon was at the centre of the protests and Kang Ki-hun’s arrest was seen by many as a means of curbing the group’s activities. Kang Ki-hun is believed to be a prisoner of conscience arrested on account of his peaceful political activities and wrongly convicted after an unfair trial which failed to prove him guilty.
