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A Seoul court has ordered the South Korean government to compensate a Moroccan asylum seeker $7,500 for months of detainment at an immigration center and alleged inhumane treatment, reports Seoul-based newspaper Korea Herald.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of the Moroccan national on Thursday, in a case stemming from his March 2021 detention. The case gained public attention in September 2021 after disturbing footage emerged from the detention center.
The video showed the Moroccan man bound and struggling to move. He has since spoken out about the inhumane treatment he received, including repeated solitary confinement.
«I couldn't breathe», the Moroccan told media in 2021. «It's the trauma of my life. I'll never forget what they did to me».
The man reportedly protested being placed in solitary confinement over 12 times within a three-month period.
Having entered Korea in 2017 as an asylum seeker, the man was transferred to the Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center in March 2021 following a deportation order.
«The Ministry of Justice should accept the ruling and work to improve the detention center system nationwide to prevent future human rights violations», said Kim Ji-rim, an attorney with the GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation who represented the man.
The court’s ruling is the first of its kind in South Korea.
