Tool of Mediaeval Terrorism
One of the laws is the "Ordinance on Summary Judgment of Crime".
In December 1910, Governor-General in Korea Terautsi promulgated the "Ordinance on Summary Judgment of Crime" as "Regulations" No. 10. This evil law stipulated that "As for the crimes of gambling, assault and battery and violation of administrative laws liable to less than three-month penal servitude or at least 100-won or minor fine, the chief of a police station or a squad leader of the military police can try them summarily." Thus the squad leaders of the military police and the chiefs of the police stations were granted the right to execute the Koreans without legal formalities or trials.
Lecturer Kang Kyong Mi at the Central Class Education House exposed the fundamental purpose of the "Ordinance on Summary Judgment of Crime" fabricated by the Japanese imperialists as follows:
"In general, if a crime is committed, it is customary to inflict a penalty according to the law or through a trial corresponding to the criminal act. But the Japanese imperialists devised an evil law that ignores all the relevant procedures and punishes arbitrarily at the site of detection if a Korean commits a 'crime'.
The fundamental purpose of the evil law fabricated by the Japanese imperialists was to enforce a mediaeval terrorism that makes it possible to suppress the Korean people anytime and anywhere and creates an atmosphere of horror in society."
After the promulgation of the infamous "Ordinance on Summary Judgment of Crime", the Japanese imperialists committed unpardonable criminal atrocities of arresting, imprisoning and killing the Korean people indiscriminately under preposterous excuses, trampling down even their elementary human rights and right to existence.
How outrageously they carried out the "Ordinance on Summary Judgment of Crime" can be found in the contents of the "Rules on Punishment of Police Controlled Offenses", its detailed enforcement regulations.
The "Rules on Punishment of Police Controlled Offenses" consisting of 87 articles stipulate that the police can inflict a penalty without a trial on those who lost their houses and jobs and are wandering about in search of living, those who have to beg food as they are unable to endure hunger under colonial rule, those presenting a petition in a group, those making a speech against the colonial rule, those flying a kite near electric wires and even those making dogs or cocks fight.
At that time, due to the vicious oppression and plunder of the Japanese imperialists, many Koreans went bankrupt and lost their jobs and houses and had to wander around begging. Nevertheless, the Japanese imperialists put those who were wandering about to find a job for survival and went begging with extreme hunger in the list of those to be punished. After all, with the promulgation of this evil law, they officially declared that they would not recognize the Korean people's right to existence.
People being taken to prison
Japanese imperialist police punishing an innocent man by flogging
Owing to this evil law, lots of people were accused of unreasonable crimes and became the objects of the "summary judgment".
According to the understated data published by the Japanese imperialists, the number of "summary judgment" cases was more than 12,000 in 1911 and over 21,500 in 1912, and later, the number continued to increase and in 1918, it was rapidly increased to more than 71,000 which is nearly six times as many as in 1911.
This intuitively shows how many innocent Korean people the Japanese imperialist gendarmes and police "punished" arbitrarily by invoking the "Ordinance on Summary Judgment of Crime".
But the extra-large immoral crimes of the Japanese imperialists have not been liquidated as yet though many, many years went by.
According to the understated data published by the Japanese imperialists, the number of "summary judgment" cases was more than 12,000 in 1911 and over 21,500 in 1912, and later, the number continued to increase and in 1918, it was rapidly increased to more than 71,000 which is nearly six times as many as in 1911.
This intuitively shows how many innocent Korean people the Japanese imperialist gendarmes and police "punished" arbitrarily by invoking the "Ordinance on Summary Judgment of Crime".
But the extra-large immoral crimes of the Japanese imperialists have not been liquidated as yet though many, many years went by.