North Korean state media has said that detained American Matthew Miller hoped to be a “second Snowden” and a “world famous guy”, in a detailed report of his alleged crimes in an article released on Saturday. In an extensive report, the North Korean government claims that Miller entered the DPRK under the guise of being a tourist for the sole purpose of being placed in a prison camp so he could, in turn, collect evidence of human rights violations within the country. “He had a foolish idea of spying on prison and human rights situation while experiencing ‘prison life’ after intentionally committing crimes in violation of the law in the DPRK,” the article on the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) read. Miller was sentenced to six years of hard labor by North Korea’s Supreme Court on September 14, which accused him of ”[committing] acts hostile to the DPRK while entering the territory of the DPRK under the guise of a tourist in last April”. Saturday’s article outlines the exact crime Miller was charged for, which is “espionage coming under Article 64 of the Criminal Law of the DPRK.” The article also claimed that Miller was attempting to meet with fellow American prisoner Kenneth Bae to negotiate his release to ensure Bae could also disclose human rights issues within North Korea. However, Bae revealed in an interview with CNN in September that he is the only prisoner at the camp he is serving his sentence in and does not have access to any other inmates interned in the North Korean prison system. Bae is currently serving 15 years hard labor after being arrested for preaching Christianity in 2012. The article also insinuated that comments from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, made earlier in the year, may have contributed to Miller’s sentence. “What mattered was that his crime timed to coincide with the reckless remarks made by officials of the present U.S. administration including Secretary of State Kerry terming the dignified DPRK a ‘country of evil’,” the article said. State Department spokesperson Darby Holladay told NK News last Sunday that “there is no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad”. “We request the DPRK pardon Matthew “Todd” Miller and Kenneth Bae and grant them amnesty and immediate release so they may reunite with their families,” he continued. “Out of humanitarian concern for Jeffrey Fowle and his family,” he added, “we request the DPRK grant him amnesty and immediate release so he may return home”. The article also likened Miller’s actions to what North Korea believes to be an ongoing hostile U.S. policy against the DPRK, in which it attempts to “slander” the country over its human rights record.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 22:30:52 +0000
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