US: US journalists held separately for four months: sister
Thu Aug 6 05:24:16 EST 2009
LOS ANGELES, Aug 5 AFP - The two US journalists freed by North Korea after more than four months in custody were held separately for most of their time behind bars, a sister for one of the women says.
Lisa Ling said her sister Laura had hardly seen her fellow prisoner, Euna Lee, during their incarceration in the reclusive Stalinist state, which ended after they were pardoned by North Korea.
"They actually were kept apart most of the time," Lisa Ling told KTLA television after the two journalists arrived back in California early on Wednesday following their release.
"I think they saw each other very early on for a couple of days in the beginning and then they were separated for the duration of the four-and-a-half months," she added.
"In fact, one time on the phone ... she said, 'Will you please write a letter to Euna and tell her that I'm thinking about her and I love her.'"
Lisa Ling refused to be drawn on the precise circumstances of her sister's arrest, which occurred in March after she crossed into North Korea from China while working on a story about human trafficking.
"I really haven't talked specifics about what actually happened that day. We know, as we've said, and she will confirm, that when they left US soil, they never intended to cross the border," she said.
"As journalists, when you're in the field, you never know what is going to arise and things can be unpredictable and whatever happened that day, she will tell you when she is ready to talk about it.
"But based on the limited knowledge that I have, I don't think they used poor judgment."
