2024-04-06 03:46:09
A full-scale trial began on January 10, 2022, regarding allegations of preferential treatment and lobbying for the Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. The Dong-A Ilbo legal team serializes the trials that take place every week on Saturdays in order to keep a record of this case, which attracted a lot of public attention. In addition, we plan to continue reporting on remaining unresolved suspicions. This episode is Episode 59 of Daejeon-dong Trial Catch-up.
“I think this is the result that the political prosecutors of the prosecutorial dictatorship wanted as they abused their power to investigate and prosecute.”
Lee Jae-myeong, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the trial on charges of breach of trust and bribery at Daejang-dong, Wirye, Baekhyeon-dong and Seongnam FC held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 2nd and said, “The official election campaign period is 13 days, and I ended up appearing in court for 3 of those days.” said.
At the beginning of the trial, when he appeared in court, Representative Lee only waved to his supporters and headed to court without making any remarks, but as the April 10 general election approached, he seemed to be conscious of this and increased his out-of-court remarks. Representative Lee added, “It is a pity that as the leader of the main opposition party, I cannot focus on the election, which is a precious time and the fate of the country depends on it.”
● Trial halted due to Lee Jae-myeong’s non-appearance
The Daejangdong trial related to Representative Lee did not proceed smoothly as it coincided with the general election. It started on the 19th of last month. Representative Lee did not attend the trial on suspicion of breach of trust and bribery at Daejang-dong, Wirye, Baekhyeon-dong and Seongnam FC, which is being heard by the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Agreement Division 33 (Chief Judge Kim Dong-hyun). Even though the court rejected Representative Lee’s non-appearance opinion submitted to the court the day before, he did not appear without permission. Representative Lee instead ran an election campaign. At the Daejeon-dong hearing on the 12th, Representative Lee did not appear in the morning to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Democratic Party’s Election Committee, but only showed up late in the afternoon.
Due to the defendant’s failure to appear, the trial was postponed without being able to proceed with the scheduled examination of witnesses. The Criminal Procedure Act stipulates that, in principle, a trial cannot be held if the defendant does not appear on the trial date. Yoo Dong-gyu, former acting president of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who appeared as a witness on this day, also refused to testify, saying, “I gave up my candidacy because the court told me to attend, but the defendant (CEO Lee) did not even come.” The court postponed the trial that day and warned, “If you continue to fail to appear, we may consider a forced summons.”
On this day, the prosecution protested, saying, “The defendant in the criminal trial failed to appear due to personal political activities,” and “If unauthorized absence is repeated, compulsory measures must be taken to ensure attendance.” In response, Representative Lee’s lawyer said, “Representative Lee is participating in the election as the representative of the main opposition party,” and “Considering the importance of elections in our country, which adopts a constitutional party democracy system, we must fully consider the fact that it is not Representative Lee’s personal problem.” “He countered. Representative Lee’s lawyer requested the court to allow his absence until April 10, the election day, but the court drew a line, saying, “We cannot proceed with the trial considering his political position.” When Representative Lee protested, citing “the importance of elections” and “the principle of prohibiting excess,” the court showed displeasure, saying, “I don’t want to discuss it with the lawyers.”
Representative Lee also did not appear without permission in the trial on charges of publishing false facts under the Public Official Election Act, which is being heard by Division 34 of the Criminal Agreement (Chief Judge Han Seong-jin) on the 22nd. However, this trial was conducted as a ‘trial in absentia’, conducted without the defendant at the discretion of the court.
● Lee must appear in court even on the eve of the general election
After the court discussed compulsory summons by issuing a warrant, Representative Lee appeared at the Daejeon-dong trial on the 29th of last month and the 2nd of this month. As he wrote at the beginning of the article, he expressed strong regrets on his way to attendance.
Of course, there is also an argument that Representative Lee’s claim that ‘Please consider the fact that he is running the election as the representative of the main opposition party’ is also valid. As the lawyer said, considering the importance of elections in our country, which adopts a constitutional party democracy system, the intention is that the issue is not limited to this individual representative. Some even ask why it would be so difficult to postpone the trial schedule for just 2 to 3 weeks when the election is just around the corner.
However, the court cannot help but be embarrassed. This is because it is against fairness for the court, which is in charge of numerous cases other than this representative case, to give consideration to the schedule for only certain cases, and is likely to be seen as preferential treatment in itself. Aside from this representative, for all parties undergoing trial, self-judgment is the most important law. Therefore, requesting an exception to the trial on the grounds that Representative Lee is an ‘influential politician representing the main opposition party’ would be no different from claiming that ‘I am a special person, different from ordinary people.’ A judge with extensive experience in criminal trials said, “Allowing an exception to one defendant will ultimately lead to a controversy over preferential treatment and will inevitably affect the credibility of other trials.” “Even if non-attendance is not accepted, it should not be considered unfair,” he said. Fortunately, Representative Lee attended the trial after the court’s warning and expressed his intention, saying, “It is unfair and unfortunate, but I will fulfill my duty as a citizen.”
It may be frustrating for Representative Lee, but he has to appear in court on the 9th, the day before the general election, and on the 12th, two days after the general election. Daejang-dong, Wirye, Baekhyeon-dong and Seongnam FC are scheduled to face trials for breach of trust and bribery, respectively, and trials on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act. Representative Lee requested at the Daejeon-dong trial on the 2nd, “Please change the date at least the day before the general election,” but the court did not accept it, saying, “It is said to be a preferential treatment.” However, Representative Lee did not give any specific answer to the reporter’s question on this day, “Will he attend the day before the general election?” Meanwhile, on the 11th, immediately after the general election, the first appeal trial will be held for Kim Yong, former vice president of the Korea Institute for Democracy, a close associate of Representative Lee, who was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 70 million won in the first trial on charges of violating the Political Fund Act.
Reporter Kim Ja-hyun [email protected]
2024-04-06 03:46:09