An Uzbek citizen sentenced to life imprisonment in South Korea has been released: the court will review the case
The court decided to review the case because violations were identified in the investigation into the 2009 murder of a taxi driver.
Uzbek citizen Bozorov Akmal, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in South Korea for the murder of a taxi driver, has been released after more than 16 years. His father met him outside the prison.
The Changwon District Court decided to retry the case and suspended the execution of his sentence until the trial concludes.
The 37-year-old Akmal was accused of the murder of a taxi driver in Changwon in March 2009. He initially confessed during the preliminary investigation, but later stated that these statements were obtained through police coercion and unlawful investigative methods. He admitted to involvement in robbing another taxi, but denied any connection to the driver's murder.
Nevertheless, Akmal was convicted in the murder case. In April 2010, the Supreme Court of South Korea upheld the life imprisonment sentence imposed on him.
His initial application for a retrial was rejected in 2015. On January 2, 2025, his lawyer Pak Jun Yon filed a new application with the court.
The court found that serious violations of law occurred during the investigation. In particular, police deceived Akmal by telling him that his DNA had been found at the crime scene, and attempted to obtain a confession by presenting the deceased victim as alive. Additionally, Akmal, who did not know Korean well, was not provided with an interpreter.
The defense presented new evidence, including a police report alleged to have been falsified regarding the shop where the murder weapon was sold. The lawyer also emphasized that there was a six-kilometer discrepancy between the distance recorded on the taxi meter and the route determined by police.
The court stated that the unlawful investigation was sufficient grounds for a retrial. The new evidence will be evaluated during the new trial.
Akmal said he had suffered greatly, feeling that he had been unjustly imprisoned. At the same time, he expressed regret for the possible suffering endured by the victim's family and promised to tell the truth during the trial.
No final decision has yet been issued in the case.
