North Korea to put US citizen on trial for illegal entry

[Coventina]

Source: Guardian

(snip)

The Korean Central News Agency identified the man as 30-year-old Aijalon Mahli Gomes, of Boston, and said "his crime has been confirmed". The brief dispatch did not say when Gomes would stand trial.

Two months ago, Pyongyang announced that an American had been detained for trespassing on 25 January after crossing into the country from China.

There was no immediate US confirmation of the man's identity. PJ Crowley, a state department spokesman, said last week that Swedish diplomats in Pyongyang had access to a US citizen in North Korean custody.

Gomes would be the fourth American detained by communist North Korea on charges of illegal entry in the past year. It was not immediately clear why he had crossed into the country.

Two US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were arrested a year ago near the Chinese border and sentenced to 12 years hard labour for illegal entry and engaging in "hostile acts".

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/22/north-korea-american-trial-illegal-entry