Court Again Rejects Arrest Warrant for Son Jun-sung on 'Gobal Saju' Charges... "Insufficient Grounds for Detention"

Prosecutor Son Jun-seong, identified as a key figure in the accusation manipulation scandal (former Policy Officer for Investigation Information at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office), is attending the second pre-trial detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HCIC) has had the arrest warrant for former Deputy Director of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Investigation Information Policy Division Son Jun-sung, reissued on charges related to the 'whistleblowing scandal' allegations, rejected again by the court on the 3rd.

Seo Bo-min, the chief judge in charge of arrest warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, who conducted the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for former Deputy Director Son, dismissed the HCIC's arrest warrant for Son at around 12:12 a.m. on the same day.

Judge Seo stated the reason for dismissal, saying, "While it appears necessary to guarantee the suspect's right to defense, the grounds, necessity, and reasonableness for detention have not been sufficiently demonstrated."

Former Deputy Director Son is accused of instructing subordinate prosecutors in April last year to draft complaints accusing ruling party figures and delivering these complaints to Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party and then a candidate for the Future United Party in the general election, thereby instigating the whistleblowing.

Previously, the HCIC had requested an arrest warrant for former Deputy Director Son, but it was dismissed by the court. On the 30th of last month, the HCIC re-requested a pre-arrest warrant against Son on charges including abuse of authority, obstruction of exercise of rights, official secret leakage, violation of the Personal Information Protection Act, violation of the Public Official Election Act, and violation of the Criminal Procedure Electronicization Act.

Regarding the HCIC's re-request for the warrant, Son's legal team stated, "Despite no significant change in circumstances after the warrant dismissal, the warrant was re-requested following re-accusations by ruling party lawmakers, clearly demonstrating that this investigation has political motives."