[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae criticized the leak of the indictment against Lee Sung-yoon, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who was indicted on charges of exerting external pressure in the illegal travel ban investigation of former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, saying, "(The prosecution) is repeating barbaric and anti-constitutional behavior as it is."
On the morning of the 17th, former Minister Chu posted on her social media (SNS) Facebook account, "The prosecution is suspected of leaking the indictment to the media," adding, "If the prosecution, which must abide by the Constitution and the rule of law, recklessly leaked the indictment and trampled on constitutional values, the river of prosecution reform that has come under the media's fire will become a river of futility."
Former Minister Chu continued, "If the prosecution is not deliberately mocking 'prosecution reform,' it has crossed the line to an extent that is simply unacceptable," and said, "Third parties unrelated to the specific charges against Prosecutor Lee Sung-yoon are mentioned in the indictment with speculation or subjective facts. These third parties are not guaranteed the opportunity to legally contest these during the legal procedures against Lee Sung-yoon. If left unchecked, it will be treated as if true. This raises suspicion that it is a scheme to use this as a pretext for abuse of authority or dereliction of duty."
Former Minister Chu added, "The reason for prohibiting the reckless disclosure of indictments is to uphold the constitutional principle that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty by trial, thereby protecting the defendant's human rights and right to defense in criminal procedures."
She also urged the Ministry of Justice to promptly investigate the circumstances of the indictment leak. She further argued, "On this occasion, the law should be amended to explicitly state the so-called principle of indictment specificity in order to prevent the indiscriminate inclusion of matters unrelated to the specification of the accused facts in indictments."
Recently, after the prosecution indicted Lee Sung-yoon, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the contents of the indictment detailing his charges were disclosed before being delivered to the concerned party, rapidly fueling suspicions of a leak.
In response, Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye instructed Acting Prosecutor General Cho Nam-gwan on the afternoon of the 15th to investigate the truth of the allegations. Acting Prosecutor General Cho immediately took measures to enable the Inspection Division 1, Inspection Division 3, and the Information and Communications Division to collaborate and uncover the facts.
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