Free Jung-geun Park(@seouldecadence), a South Korean charged for RE-TWEETING North Korean posts.

"This is not a national security case, it's a sad case of the South Korean authorities' complete failure to understand sarcasm...

Imprisoning anyone for peaceful expression of their opinions violates international law but in this case, the charges against Park Jeong-geun are simply ludicrous and should be dropped immediately." - Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International

On September 21 2011, South Korean policemen raided Jung-geun Park's photo studio, searched and seized his cell phone, hard drives, films, and books, This 8-hour-long police raid was such a shock to the 23-year-old baby-specialized photographer, and he ended up suffering from severe acute stress disorder. 

His crime? Using Twitter! Benefiting the enemy of the state(North Korea) by sharing(re-tweet) North Korean posts on his Twitter account(@seouldecadence). 

Mr. Park maintains his intention was just ridiculing the Stalinist regime, and he belongs to South Korean Socialist Party which regularly and openly criticized it, but South Korean law enforcement still wanted to charge his jokes. They do not even know RT does not mean endorsement.

This was not the end of Mr. Park's ordeal. Months later, They brought him an arrest warrant, which said his crime was "retweeting 384 pro North Korean tweets, posting 200 pro North Korean tweets, and owning one North Korean book."

Indeed, his imprisonment worried the international community, hence human rights groups like Amnesty International and Freedom House raised concerns, with international media like NYT, and BBC reporting his case afterwards.

Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/south-korea-must-release-activist-charged-over-kim-jong-il-tweet-2012-02-01
New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/world/asia/south-korean-indicted-for-twitter-posts-from-north-korea.html

He had to be jailed for 40 days without access to the psychiatrist he needed, until the local court finally bailed him with bail set at 10,000,000 won(about USD $10,000). Such a huge amount of bail meant they did not want him out, but his supporters raised funds on the Internet to release him.

According to South Korean National Security Law, if your any speech is deemed to seem to "praise, support, or cooperate with" North Korea, you could be jailed for up to 7 years. Did you notice how vague the wording is? So anyone could be jailed with a nasty stigma as a "North Korean sympathizer".

In fact, this law has been abused to torture, imprison, and execute many activists during decades of dictatorship, but this law was hardly changed even after South Korea started democratic election again in 1987.

** To learn more about Mr. Park's case:

Mr. Park's letter from jail http://cherrybreakfast.posterous.com/park-jung-geuns-draft-of-his-court-statement 
Mr. Park's first letter from jail to President Myung-bak Lee http://mesmer.blog.lemonde.fr/2012/02/21/message-de-park-jung-geun-au-president-lee-myung-bak/

Please sign this petition to Suwon District Court, so that the judges will acquit him and he would not face up-to-7-years imprisonment.

*** Petition to Suwon District Court ***

Your honour,

I am writing to express my deep concern on the victims of National Security Law in Republic of Korea. Also, I am extremely concerned for the welfare of those prisoners of conscience. 

I have learned Jung-Geun Park has recently been accused of exalting Kim Jong Il, a former leader of North Korea, just by retransmitting posts on Twitter. As far as we all understand, citizens in a democratic society cannot be arrested or prosecuted without appropriate evidence. Furthermore, retransmitting posts can hardly affect a nation's security. 

As you may know, several international media such as New York Times and BBC have criticised that the prosecution of Park is out of question and even ridiculous. I too believe that the practice of National Security Law is absolutely against human rights and of course, freedom of expression. Park is not guilty, but National Security Law is. 

Now I urge Your Honor to acquit Park immediately and prove that Republic of Korea is a free and democratic country. 

Yours sincerely,