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SEOUL, South Korea (October 28, 1999 7:07 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - After 12 years in hiding, a former police captain accused of torturing hundreds political prisoners during the 1980s turned himself in Thursday.
Lee Kun-an walked into the regional prosecutor's office in Suwon, south of Seoul, and surrendered, authorities said.
Lee, 61, was dubbed the "Torture Artist" by former dissidents who said his favorite technique was dislocating arms and knees.
He has been formally charged with torturing Kim Kun-tae, a well-known dissident, into confessing to spying charges in 1985.
Lee went into hiding in 1988 after Kim, released in a special government amnesty, accused him of torture. Kim now is a lawmaker and close confidant of President Kim Dae-jung, who was South Korea's leading pro-democracy dissident before being elected president last year.
Six of Lee's former colleagues since have been convicted of torture and sentenced to up to two years in prison. But Lee's whereabouts were a mystery.
Local news reports, quoting unnamed prosecution sources, said Lee had been hiding in China. It was not immediately clear why Lee decided to turn himself in.
During past military rules, many political prisoners said they were convicted of being communist spies and sentenced to long prison terms on the basis of confessions elicited by torture.
Lee allegedly was often sent on "business trips" to torture political prisoners in jails and intelligence agency offices across the country.
Past military governments decorated him 16 times for his service.