Disabled activist files complaint with human rights watchdog over arrest during subway protest

Social Affairs

Published: 28 Nov. 2023, 17:11 Updated: 28 Nov. 2023, 18:04

Disabled activist files complaint with human rights watchdog over arrest during subway protest

Park Kyeong-seok, the head of the disability advocacy group Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD), speaks during a rally held on the platform of Hyehwa Station in downtown Seoul on Tuesday, saying the group will file a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Nhrck) against the police for his arrest last week. [YONHAP]

A local advocacy group for people with disabilities on Tuesday filed a complaint with the state human rights watchdog against the police for the “illegal” arrest of its head last week.

Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) claimed that the arrest was illegal since the police used violence against the group's head, Park Kyeong-seok, and failed to inform him of his Miranda rights.

“I held on to my wheelchair not to be arrested, but I could not move because the police took my arms and twisted them,” he said during a rally held at the platform of Hyehwa Station on line No. 4 in central Seoul on Tuesday.

He added that the police instructed him to lift his feet multiple times despite being paralyzed.

Park was apprehended on Seoul’s Hyehwa Station platform at 8:50 p.m. Friday on multiple charges, including violating the Railroad Safety Act and business obstruction.

Following the arrest, he was sent to a hospital due to injuries and pain, including neck injuries suffered during a fall from his wheelchair. Park was released two days later after prosecutors rejected an arrest warrant against him.

Park added that while being questioned, he asked the police to provide evidence that they read him his Miranda rights before the arrest. He said the police have yet to respond.

The Hyehwa Police Precinct said they read Park his Miranda rights before he was arrested and again when he was sent to the hospital.

The group initially planned to file a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Nhrck) in person after the morning rally ended. However, as Seoul Metro and the police blocked them from taking the subway, they left the platform and said they would file the complaint online.

SADD resumed its morning rush-hour subway protests at City Hall Station on line No. 2 last Monday after a two-month hiatus, urging the government to increase spending on welfare and mobility for people with disabilities.

SADD members plan to hold a two-day rally near Daehak-ro, Jongno District, central Seoul, from Thursday to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls on Sunday.

The members will hold another subway protest at Hyehwa Station at 8 a.m. on Friday, the last day of the rally.

Seoul Metro announced last week that it would respond sternly to such protests, implementing three-step measures to stop them, including blocking the group from entering the subway platform, disabling platform doors and taking legal action against illegal activities.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]