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| North Korean court sentences Matthew Miller to six years' hard labour | North Korean court sentences Matthew Miller to six years' hard labour |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| North Korea's supreme court has sentenced US citizen Matthew Miller to six years' hard labour for entering the country illegally and trying to commit an act of espionage. | North Korea's supreme court has sentenced US citizen Matthew Miller to six years' hard labour for entering the country illegally and trying to commit an act of espionage. |
| The North's supreme court passed the sentence after a brief trial on Sunday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a short report. The court, which denied Miller permission to appeal, said the 24-year-old from Bakersfield, California, tore up his tourist visa at Pyongyang airport when he entered the country on 10 April and intended to "experience prison life so that he could investigate the human rights situation". | The North's supreme court passed the sentence after a brief trial on Sunday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a short report. The court, which denied Miller permission to appeal, said the 24-year-old from Bakersfield, California, tore up his tourist visa at Pyongyang airport when he entered the country on 10 April and intended to "experience prison life so that he could investigate the human rights situation". |
| "He committed acts hostile to [North Korea] while entering the territory of the [North] under the guise of a tourist last April," it said. | "He committed acts hostile to [North Korea] while entering the territory of the [North] under the guise of a tourist last April," it said. |
| Photos of the trial released by state media showed some of Miller's possessions, including his passport and North Korean visa – which was ripped. Miller was also shown sitting in a witness box, flanked by soldiers. | |
| North Korea has yet to announce a trial date for Jeffrey Fowle, 56, from Miamisburg, Ohio, who was arrested in May for leaving a bible under a toilet in a sailors' club in the eastern port city of Chongjin. | |
| US missionary Kenneth Bae has been held by the isolated country since December 2012 and is serving a sentence of 15 years' hard labour for crimes North Korea said amounted to a plot to overthrow the state. | US missionary Kenneth Bae has been held by the isolated country since December 2012 and is serving a sentence of 15 years' hard labour for crimes North Korea said amounted to a plot to overthrow the state. |
| The verdict came a week after the North set Miller's trial date and two weeks after a plea for help from Miller, Bae and Fowle. | |
| In a televised interview with CNN in Pyongyang, the three men pleaded for the US government to help them. | In a televised interview with CNN in Pyongyang, the three men pleaded for the US government to help them. |
| "My situation is very urgent," Miller said in the 1 September interview. | "My situation is very urgent," Miller said in the 1 September interview. |
| "I think this interview is my final chance to push the American government into helping me," he added. | "I think this interview is my final chance to push the American government into helping me," he added. |