Former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Lee Kwang-chul, who was indicted on charges of involvement in the illegal travel ban of former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, is attending a trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 15th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] Lee Kwang-cheol, former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary, who is on trial for alleged involvement in the 'Kim Hak-ui illegal departure ban' case, has raised issues with the prosecution's indictment. The prosecution, citing the indictment amendment as the reason, has not backed down either.
On the 17th, the 27th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Sun-il) held the 4th trial for Lee and others, who were indicted on charges including forgery of official documents by impersonation.
At the trial, before the witness examination, sharp criticisms from both sides regarding the prosecution's request to amend the indictment continued. First, Lee obtained the opportunity to speak and claimed, "The contents of the indictment are so deficient that the information contained within is contradictory."
He continued, "The prosecution frequently applied to amend the indictment in this case," and explained, "The initial indictment did not mention the name of former Deputy Prosecutor General Bong Wook at all." He further argued, "The prosecution did not review the text messages from former Deputy Prosecutor Bong, which stated that he approved the withdrawal in an urgent situation, and mechanically compromised the defendants' rebuttals."
The prosecution pushed back. They stated, "While misunderstandings are allowed, as we are conducting the investigation to the best of our ability, we understand that Lee was indicted just the day before the personnel transfer," and added, "It is incomprehensible to blame everything on us."
In response, the court decided to make a judgment on the prosecution's future request to amend the indictment based on the positions of both parties.
Meanwhile, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigation team, which investigated the illegal departure ban allegations against former Vice Minister Kim, also indicted Lee, Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won, and Research Fellow Cha Gyu-geun of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, as well as Lee Sung-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office. Lee and others are charged with abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights for illegally banning former Vice Minister Kim from departing the country on March 22, 2019, when his attempt to leave was detected.
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