CNN Indonesia
Wednesday, 04 Oct 2023 20:45 IWST
North Korean authorities sentenced a pharmaceutical warehouse manager to death after being caught stealing 20,000 doses of penicillin or antibiotics. (AFP/KIM WON JIN)
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Authority North Korea sentenced a pharmaceutical warehouse manager to death after he was caught stealing 20 thousand doses of penicillin or antibiotics.
The manager in his 40s was shot dead on September 25 in Hyesan City, Ryanggang Province.
An anonymous source living in the same province said the executed manager oversaw drugs at Warehouse No. 4, a supply storage location belonging to the Ministry of Civil Defense under the Provincial People’s Committee.
This warehouse was used to store medicine reserves for use during wartime.
“[Pria itu] secretly sold large quantities of wartime reserve drugs,” the source said, without specifying to whom the drugs were sold.
He also said it sends nearly expired medications to local hospitals. In contrast, Warehouse No. 4 received new orders to keep as their reserves.
“In this process, the entire penicillin shortage was blamed on one person, and he (the alleged perpetrator) was shot,” he said.
This source also said that the manager’s execution was similar to the death sentence for nine people accused of smuggling beef on August 30. At that time, 25 thousand residents were forced to witness the execution.
The difference is, in the case of penicillin, the number of people forced to witness it is smaller than at that time.
“Only housewives and related officials gathered at the execution site,” the source said Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Even while the execution was taking place, he said, the wheels of the business were still turning. Warehouse workers continue to work as usual and none of the markets are closed.
Meanwhile, according to a second source from the same province, the execution of the warehouse boss took place at a time when the government was anxious due to the increase in symptoms similar to the corona virus and respiratory diseases in recent times.
A number of residents also believe that the execution occurred because penicillin stocks were running low in North Korea.
“In public executions, it appears that penicillin shortages have led to a rapid increase in the number of colds and respiratory symptoms,” he said.
North Korean authorities have been known to frequently carry out executions, both secretly and openly. Typically, they used a number of methods ranging from being shot by firing squads to hanging themselves.
Such brutal punishments are carried out in order to keep the community in order and loyal to the country.
Along with this, a second source said some people believe that the death penalty is too much of a disciplinary measure. He assessed that the Pyongyang government did not seem to value human life.
“In this country, human life is no more valuable than a fly,” he said.
(blq/rds)
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2023-10-04 13:45:08
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