Jung Jin-woong, Research Fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (Deputy Chief Prosecutor) [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] In the appeal trial of Jeong Jin-ung, a research fellow (deputy chief prosecutor) at the Legal Research and Training Institute, who is accused of "Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon’s official oppression," the prosecution argued that "Research Fellow Jeong gave false testimony immediately after the incident."
On the 9th, the prosecution pointed this out during the second appeal trial of Research Fellow Jeong held at the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Yoon Seung-eun, Kim Daehyun, Ha Tae-han).
On that day, the prosecutor emphasized that immediately after the search and seizure, Research Fellow Jeong initially stated that Prosecutor Han was "entering the password on the iPhone and had entered all but one or two digits," but later changed his statement. The prosecutor added, "Giving testimony as if it is clear despite unclear memory is false testimony."
In response, Research Fellow Jeong said, "During the trial, when I saw the iPhone, I thought my memory might not be very accurate," and "I remembered that circles were pre-drawn and the password was filled in one by one, but when I actually saw the iPhone, a circle appeared each time the password was pressed." He also added, "This only means there might be a slight error in this part, but it does not mean that I did not see the password being entered."
Research Fellow Jeong was prosecuted on charges including official oppression of Prosecutor Han, who is suspected of being involved in the coercion attempt case of former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae, during the process of seizing the mobile phone SIM card to investigate the 'prosecutor-media collusion' suspicion case while serving as the chief prosecutor of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in July last year. Official oppression refers to a prosecutor or police officer abusing their authority during an investigation to arrest, assault, or commit cruel acts against a suspect.
In the first trial, Research Fellow Jeong was sentenced to four months in prison with a one-year probation and a one-year suspension of qualification. At that time, the court stated, "The defendant assaulted under the subjective judgment that the victim was attempting to destroy evidence during the execution of the search warrant," and "There was at least minimal intent to use physical force on the body, not just the intention to take the mobile phone." However, the court judged that Prosecutor Han did not suffer injury from the official oppression by Research Fellow Jeong and applied the general official oppression charge rather than the aggravated official oppression under the Specific Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act.
On the other hand, Research Fellow Jeong appealed the first trial verdict, claiming that "the necessary measures were taken due to concerns of evidence destruction and that it was a lawful official act."
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