The family of a South Korean businessman who has been held in Yangon’s Insein Prison for nearly two years on a drug-related conviction say he was framed by an employee who wanted to steal his property.
Lee Sang-beom, 48, had been running his own medical device sales company in Taungoo, Bago Region, for three years when police found illegal drugs in his car and home on Oct. 20, 2016. He was soon thereafter sentenced to 11 years in prison, and the sentence was upheld by an appeals court last month. He is now appealing to Myanmar’s Supreme Court.
Lee maintains that the drugs were planted within his property by his interpreter Charlene and her husband. According to his account of the arrest, he and Charlene were driving from Taungoo to Mawlamyine for business when Charlene made a phone call, saying she was ordering some drinks. A man on a motorbike soon delivered items in a plastic bag to their car. Ten minutes later, police pulled the car over and discovered illegal drugs in the plastic bag, and the pair were arrested. A few days later, police also found drugs in Lee’s home.
According to Lee, Charlene later confessed to police that she had conspired with her husband to get Lee arrested so that she would receive all of his assets, many of which were registered in her name to avoid restrictions on foreigners doing business in Myanmar. However, she did not offer this version during her testimony in court.
“We thought there was nothing to worry about anymore and everything would be fine,” Lee Sang-su, the brother of Lee Sang-beom, told the Korea Times. “But she changed her testimony in court.”
Charlene was sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug possession and use, and police are still searching for her husband. Lee tested negative for drug use, but the court still did not accept his claim of having been framed.
“I’m absolutely certain he is innocent,” Lee Sang-su said. “He just fell into a trap set by the person he trusted. Now, he lives in pain every day and regrets the decision to go [to Myanmar] in the first place…When I visited him at Insein Prison in Yangon earlier this month, he said he had lost more than 20 kilograms since he was put behind bars 22 months ago.”
The South Korean government has called on Myanmar to handle the case fairly and lawfully but has declined to intervene in the process. In June, Lee Sang-su posted a petition on the website of the office of the South Korean president calling on the government to assist his brother. It has received more than 8,000 signatures.
“He said every day is extremely difficult to endure, but he keeps on fighting, because there is still a ray of hope,” Lee Sang-su said. “His family and friends all hope for his safe return.”
