Gwangju Activists
The Justice for Ali Khan Bike Ride , Gwangju-Daejeon Prison 7-9 July 09 T he idea for a bike ride to raise awareness and possible funding came to me a few months ago and was pitched to the volunteers already involved with the case of Ali Khan at the GIC (for more information on the case of Ali Khan please check out the November 08 Gwangju News article Introducing ... The Justice for Ali Khan Campaign’).
Julian Warmington, Kim So Ri and Jong Il.
Over the previous months the Korean language blog has generated a sufficient number of hits to gather over 700 signatures protesting for a total legal review of the sentencing of prisoner #3390 Ali Khan at Daejeon prison. I'm very proud that over 700 Koreans and foreigners living in Korea have had faith in the information we have brought to them over the last while.
It did not start well, however. A punctured tire somewhere on the outskirts of Cheomdan in the pitch black marred our arrival at the exit point for our trip. For a dreaded hour it looked like, without a supplier to get me a new tire, having my bike make the 120 km ride to Jeonju the following evening would be a miracle. With hasty visits to two bike shops we patched up the puncture as best we could and I and Jong Il arrived two hours late at the YMCA where the rest of the YMCA riders had arrived from Haenam earlier that evening. The only thing to give me confidence was Jong Il’s relating to me the Korean expression ‘A small accident before a big event brings one luck’ (if only we Brits could be so optimistic!)
The next step, it seemed to me, would be an event to mark our own collective commitment to Ali Khan's cause and to bring further awareness to the case of Ali Khan in the hope of a human rights lawyer giving proper legal attention to this case.
I awoke, after barely three hours sleep, to a large breakfast in the basement of the Cheomdan YMCA. We were to leave an hour before an interview and photos had been planned. I crossed fingers that we'd relay what needed to be relayed later on into the trip.
The bike ride was to begin in Gwangju and to arrive two days later at the gates of Daejeon prison, approximately 205 km north of Gwangju. With this first event we thought it best to involve ourselves closely with members from the Gwangju YMCA who had already planned an incredibly ambitious bike ride for the beginning of July. They were to cycle from Haenam to Gosong Reunification Observatory in Gangwondo and we had thought to join them for the Gwangju to Daejeon leg of the journey. The riders who had joined us were: Gwak Hyo Sung, Daniel Baek,
And so it was, on the morning of Tuesday 7th July, six riders from the GIC and 35 assorted riders from the YMCA walked out into the pouring rain in a strange attempt to cycle to Jeonju.
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Gwangju News August 2009
And rain it did. Gutters streamed to bursting in the 7a.m. half-dawn, streams burst their banks and glasses were repeatedly wiped from under tenuously protective plastic hoods. After an hour of cycling we found ourselves among the morning traffic of highway 1 heading north out of Gwangju. Either because of the