[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Attention is focused on the appellate court ruling for National Assembly member Yang Hyang-ja, who was acquitted in the first trial on charges of distributing holiday gifts to constituents ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
The 1st Criminal Division of the Gwangju High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Seung-chul) held the first appellate hearing on the 14th for Yang and former regional office special advisor Park (52), who were indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act.
The key issue is whether Yang was aware that the list of Lunar New Year gift recipients prepared at the regional office included constituents.
The first trial court ruled not guilty, stating that although there were suspicions based on various circumstances, it was difficult to conclude that Yang at least tacitly recognized that gifts would be given to constituents.
The prosecution appealed, claiming that there was a factual error regarding Yang.
On this day, the prosecution argued, "Considering the motive for providing gifts and the importance and scale of selecting recipients, the indirect facts confirming Yang’s crime collectively indicate that he was sufficiently aware that constituents were included among the gift recipients."
Going forward, the prosecution plans to call Park, who initially admitted to conspiracy but later changed his stance, as a witness to intensively question the connection to Yang.
They also plan to submit a statement regarding court testimony that one aide sent a message reporting the gift list to Yang to another aide.
However, this message was deleted from the chat history, which the prosecution finds suspicious. Therefore, a fierce dispute between the prosecution and the defendant is expected regarding this matter.
Another point of contention likely to be reignited is that on January 6 last year, another aide posted "Instructions from the Assembly member" along with "Add necessary names to the holiday gift list for each staff" in a Telegram group chat including Yang, and that Yang commented on this.
Yang’s defense attorney insists, "The first trial’s not guilty verdict is justified."
Regarding the prosecution’s witness request for Park, the defense argued it is unnecessary as sufficient witness examination was conducted during the first trial.
The court will decide whether to accept Park as a witness after reviewing the prosecution’s witness request and the defense’s opinions comprehensively. After two to three more hearings, a final trial is expected to be held promptly.
The next hearing is scheduled for September 22 at 3:30 p.m. in the same courtroom.
Meanwhile, Yang and special advisor Park were put on trial for allegedly providing fruit boxes worth about 1.9 million won to a total of 43 people, including local media reporters and constituents, from January 28 to February 9 last year. Members of the National Assembly are prohibited from making donations to people residing in or connected to their electoral districts.
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