Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea’s party leader candidate, attended the trial on the ‘Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong development corruption and Seongnam FC sponsorship’ only in the morning and left early, citing the primary schedule.
The prosecution responded by saying, “There should not be repeated absences due to political schedules.”
On the 13th, the 33rd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Dong-hyun) accepted the candidate’s request not to appear for the afternoon trial at the trial for charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (bribery).
The candidate’s side submitted a statement of absence to the court the day before, citing the recording of the Democratic Party’s national convention candidate debate that will be aired on MBC that night.
When the court allowed the candidate to not appear for the afternoon trial, the prosecution stated its opinion, “It is a rule that the defendant appears for trial, but this candidate should not repeatedly fail to appear due to political schedules.”
In response, the candidate’s side argued, “It was not that he was absent multiple times, but that he was present continuously, and today, he was absent only in the afternoon because there is a recorded broadcast on a public broadcasting station.”
The court decided to continue the testimony of the LH employee who was in charge of the actual work at the time of the Wiryeseong Development Project in the afternoon, following the morning testimony. However, it was decided to proceed with the afternoon testimony as a witness testimony outside of the hearing date.
According to the Criminal Procedure Act, the defendant must attend the formal trial date, not the preparatory date. However, according to precedent, if the witness examination is designated as ‘outside the trial date,’ the defendant’s attendance obligation is eliminated, and the trial can proceed with only the appearance of the defense attorney.
Meanwhile, the candidate did not answer any questions from reporters when appearing in court that day, asking, “What do you think about the ruling party and the Blue House’s claim that the candidate never requested the reinstatement of former South Gyeongsang Province Governor Kim Kyeong-soo?”
(Seoul = News 1)
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2024-08-13 19:44:44