The Seoul Central District Court has ordered the government to pay 1.8 billion won in compensation to an 80-year-old man after ruling that he was wrongly imprisoned for nearly 10 years from 1985 for spying, it said Monday.

The former National Security Planning Agency (currently National Intelligence Service) fabricated evidence against the man named Go Chang-pyo, using abuse and torture during the investigation process, the court stated Monday.

“We must prevent future occurrence of such irrational violence, which denies the rule of law,” the court added.

(sjlee370@heraldcorp.com)