The Supreme Court Wednesday upheld the death sentence for a staunch believer of a doomsday religious cult who was charged with killing six other followers.
The ruling comes amid controversies over whether to abolish the death penalty. The Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court have acknowledged the need for the death penalty while some politicians and civic groups have demanded the punishment be eliminated.
The Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling to hand down capital punishment to 62-year-old Ra Kyong-ok, a follower of the religious cult Yongsaenggyo, for orchestrating and committing the murders of the six fellow members on an order of the cult’s leader, Cho Hui-song. Cho died in June of heart disease.
The court also sentenced three other members who assisted in the killings to jail terms ranging from 12 years to life imprisonment.
It is the second time this year that the Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence. In June, the court endorsed the hanging of a man who had murdered his mother and grandmother.
``The death penalty is an ultimate and exceptional punishment that a civilized country’s judicial system can present. It is allowed only to special and objective situations that can be justified by the responsibility of the crime and aim of the punishment,’’ the court said in the ruling.
``Even though Ra committed the killings in blind faithfulness to his leader Cho, he seems to regret his wrongdoings,’’ the court said. ``However, capital punishment is inevitable for him considering the killing scheme was so elaborate and he committed murder without feelings of guilt,’’ it added.
The highest court also said it upheld lower court decisions for three other followers, saying they took part in the killing without a sense of guilt.
Ra and the others were indicted in September last year on charges of killing six followers of the cult in 1990-1992. The victims had threatened to reveal Cho’s past wrongdoings.
Cho, who was indicted on charges of ordering the murder, was given the death penalty by a district court, but his sentence was commuted to two years in prison by the appellate court, which acquitted him of the abetment charge for the murders. However, he died from a heart attack in June while the Supreme Court was reviewing his case.
So far, 59 criminals having been sentenced to capital punishment, but the nation has not executed anyone in the last six and a half years.
Debates on capital punishment erupted again when serial murder suspect Yoo Young-chul confessed in July that he killed at least 21 innocent people.
In 1996, the Constitutional Court ruled that the death penalty is not against the Constitution and is a necessary evil. In 2000, the Supreme Court also decided the punishment is acceptable by the Constitution, saying it is a criminal policy applied to exceptional cases considering people’s sentiment. The majority of citizens also showed their consent to maintaining the penalty in recent polls.
However, those opposing capital punishment claim the penalty is unethical and inhumane, and neither the law nor an authority has the right to take a human life.
Recently, Uri Party lawmaker Yoo In-tae announced a plan to submit a bill to abolish the death penalty at the National Assembly this fall. The lawmaker claimed statistics show that it is a misconception that the death penalty can reduce felonies.