Lee Jae-myung: "I am also a victim of prosecution, empathize with Han Myeong-sook... Support the retrial movement"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, expressed support for former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook's retrial movement, describing it as 'a shared plight.' He claimed that the prosecution tried to end his political life and emphasized that prosecutorial reform is a task of the times.

On the 30th, Lee said on his Facebook, "The abuse of prosecutorial power, such as crime fabrication and mutilation by some political and corrupt prosecutors to make someone shameless, and making them suffer even if innocent, is still ongoing," expressing his views.

He stated, "There has been testimony that the prosecution coached false testimony in former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook's trial. The prosecution's fabrication of evidence, which should disclose facts favorable to the defendant as a public duty, is an unacceptable human rights violation and a disruption of the constitutional order," adding, "Whether this is true remains to be seen, but based on the behavior of some political and corrupt prosecutors I have seen so far, it is entirely possible."

Lee said, "Even after the Candlelight Revolution, those who tried to end the political life of the governor elected by 13.7 million residents with overwhelming support through evidence fabrication and concealment," and continued, "The prosecution secured numerous pieces of evidence proving my innocence, such as videos and audio files showing mental illness-induced violence, but concealed them and prosecuted me for abuse of authority by forcibly diagnosing a person without mental illness, and even obstructed the submission of concealed evidence in court until the end."

He claimed, like former Prime Minister Han, that he is also a victim of 'political prosecution.'

However, former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon rebutted this, saying, "It was not the prosecution but Moon supporters who tried to end the governor's political life at that time." He added, "It was Moon supporters who even placed newspaper ads invoking 'Hye-gyeong-gung Kim' to catch the governor, and who, led by Kim Bu-seon, forced him to undergo intimate area verification in front of a doctor, including Gong Ji-young and others. Also, it was pro-Moon powerbroker Jeon Hae-cheol who filed a complaint against the governor. When I tried to stop that act, I was insulted by Moon supporters as 'torn and stained.'"