North Korean diplomat convicted of smuggling cigarettes to Sweden (4)

1 Name: PURE EVIL : 2009-12-26 23:21 ID:pCPAwFmV

STOCKHOLM – A North Korean diplomat and his wife were sentenced to eight months in prison by a Stockholm court Wednesday after trying to smuggle 230,200 cigarettes into the country on a ferry from Finland.

"The basis for the court's decision is that Son Hui Kang and Ung Sik Pak were caught red-handed smuggling (that) amount of cigarettes into the country," the district court said in its verdict.

Ung Sik Pak, a North Korean diplomat stationed in Saint Petersburg, and his wife Son Hui Kang had tried to claim diplomatic immunity.

The court said the pair "did not have any diplomatic accreditation in Sweden" and that the Vienna convention did therefore not apply.

The pair was arrested upon their arrival in Stockholm after getting off a ferry from Helsinki with the smuggled cigarettes in their car on November 18 and has been held in custody since.

Sentences for cigarette smuggling in Sweden can range from six months to six years.

2 Name: Unverified Source : 2010-01-02 22:09 ID:LvvqnBlC

I was quite shocked to hear that the North Koreans actually have diplomats.

3 Name: Unverified Source : 2010-01-03 12:42 ID:SLoU5E5w

>>2

I agree. It is a shame that Switzerland let DPRK have its own embassy there.

4 Name: Unverified Source : 2010-01-22 10:50 ID:4zZbgmr3

Wow, the DPRK have embassies in several peaceful and innocuous states: Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, The Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. They also have UN missions at Geneva and in New York. It's a wonder they can afford to fly people to any of them, really.

It's a lovely place, I don't know why more people don't visit. Oh wait: "Foreign visitors to North Korea may be arrested, detained or expelled for activities that would not be considered criminal outside the DPRK, including ... engaging in unauthorized travel, or interaction with the local population." -- US Department of State.
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