Hanbyun accuses Lee Jae-myung of violating election laws and dereliction of duty

The Lawyers’ Association for Human Rights and Unification of the Korean Peninsula (Hanbyun) announced on the 25th that it would report the responsible court to the prosecution, claiming that the ‘election law trial’ of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myeong was being delayed.

On this day, Hanbyun announced to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office that it is filing charges of dereliction of duty against all members of the 34th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Han Seong-jin), which is examining the case of Representative Lee’s alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act. Criminal Division 34 is a collegial court and is composed of three judges. Those subject to the complaint also include former Chief Judge Kang Gyu-tae, who was hearing this case until his retirement.

Hanbyeon said, “There is a mandatory provision in the Public Official Election Act that ‘the first trial sentence for election offenders must be made within 6 months from the date of indictment,’ and Representative Lee, who was indicted on September 8, 2022, is still being tried.” He said, “If an ordinary citizen had been indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, it would have taken more than six months for the verdict to be handed down.”

Representative Lee was indicted in September 2022 on charges of lying (publishing false information under the Election Act) by claiming that he knew Kim Moon-ki, former director of Seongnam Metropolitan Open Construction, during the last presidential election, even though he did not know about it when he was mayor of Seongnam, and that the use of the Baekhyeon-dong development site was increased due to threats from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. . The trial in this case has been ongoing for one year and seven months. Witness examination of Baekhyeon-dong private businessman Jeong Paul was conducted on the 12th. The hearing on the charge of saying that he did not know Director Kim ended at the end of last year. More than half of the cases have been heard.

If Representative Lee is sentenced to a fine of 1 million won or more in an ‘election law trial’, he will be deprived of the right to run for election and lose his seat as a member of the National Assembly.