"Checked 5 Computers, Desks, etc., but Nothing Related to Director Jeong Found"
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Democratic Party of Korea announced on the 9th that the prosecution withdrew from the search and seizure at the Democratic Party headquarters related to allegations of bribery against Jeong Jin-sang, the party representative's political coordination office chief, without seizing any evidence.
On the same day, Hwang Myeong-seon, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, told reporters after the prosecution's search and seizure at the party headquarters ended in the afternoon, "They just withdrew a moment ago after writing a confirmation stating that there was no evidence or any items seized that could serve as evidence."
Spokesperson Hwang explained, "The prosecution came with a search warrant related to Chief Jeong, but the Democratic Party notified them that 'Chief Jeong is not working at the party,'" adding, "Nevertheless, the prosecution strongly insisted on conducting the search and seizure at the party headquarters."
He said, "Although the Democratic Party argued that the search warrant was illegal, the prosecution insisted on at least verifying the site," and added, "There are five computers in the secretariat and computers used by party officials, but it was confirmed that none of them were used by Chief Jeong. After confirming that there were no seized items or evidence, they withdrew."
Cho Sang-ho, vice chairman of the Democratic Party's legal committee, elaborated, "(The prosecution) was convinced that there would be a personal workspace for Chief Jeong here and said they needed to check all the computers. So they checked all of them and confirmed through forensic results that none of the computers were personal workspaces or used by Chief Jeong, then withdrew."
He pointed out regarding the five PCs in the secretariat checked by the prosecution, "In the end, since there was no PC belonging to Chief Jeong, they just left," adding, "Chief Jeong has never worked regularly at the party headquarters, so there is no PC. Therefore, we said this was an illegal forced search and seizure."
After the prosecution confronted the Democratic Party and conducted the search and seizure at the central party headquarters, they returned empty-handed, prompting the Democratic Party to strongly criticize once again.
Senior spokesperson Ahn Ho-young condemned in a written briefing, "The search and seizure of the Democratic Party headquarters is a political repression show to divert the public's attention from the Itaewon tragedy."
Senior spokesperson Ahn explained, "The search and seizure of the annex office of the Democratic Party headquarters has ended. They checked the log records of five computers and desks, but it was confirmed that there was nothing related to Chief Jeong at the party headquarters."
He continued, "Despite knowing these circumstances, the prosecution conducted the search and seizure to tarnish the Democratic Party and to divert the public's attention from the Itaewon tragedy, proving it to be a political repression show by the prosecution," emphasizing, "The Democratic Party condemns the prosecution's outrageous political repression and will resolutely stand with the people to defend democracy against political oppression."
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