"Excessive Search and Seizure" Hong Jun-pyo Criticizes Daegu Police Repeatedly
Police Agency: "No Issues with Daegu Police Response to Queer Festival"
The conflict between Daegu City and the Daegu Police, which arose in connection with the Daegu Queer Culture Festival, is expanding into separate issues. Hong Jun-pyo, the mayor of Daegu, strongly opposed the recent search and seizure of Daegu City Hall by the Daegu Police and their demand for the submission of subsidy status data managed by the city, calling it a retaliatory act.
Earlier, on the 17th, during the Daegu Queer Culture Festival, a physical clash occurred between about 500 administrative officials from Daegu City and Jung-gu Office, who were trying to prevent the organizers from occupying the road, and about 1,500 police officers who were managing the assembly to guarantee freedom of assembly and demonstration.
On the 26th, Mayor Hong strongly opposed the recent search and seizure of Daegu City Hall by the police in a post on Facebook. He criticized, "They conduct indiscriminate investigations like Japanese colonial-era police casting nets and catching anyone. They carry out excessive searches and seizures, then shift responsibility to the courts and prosecutors, and after causing the mess, they put the workplace council with unclear accountability in charge of handling it. They demand submission of official documents without legal basis and then claim it is under the president's orders."
On the 23rd, the Daegu Police Agency conducted a search and seizure targeting the Public Relations Office of Daegu City Hall. This was in response to a complaint filed in February by Daegu Participation Solidarity against Mayor Hong and the person in charge of YouTube for alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act. Daegu Participation Solidarity claimed that the official Daegu City YouTube channel was used to promote Mayor Hong's personal image and achievements, violating the neutrality obligation of public officials.
Some speculated that the search and seizure of Daegu City Hall might be related to the clash during the Daegu Queer Culture Festival, but the police denied this, stating, "This is not a coercive retaliatory investigation." The police explained that they applied for a search warrant on the 9th, the court issued the warrant on the 16th, and the search was conducted on the 23rd, unrelated to the Queer Culture Festival held on the 17th.
The Daegu Police Workplace Council Federation issued a statement saying, "They ignored the court's decision with poor legal interpretations day after day regarding the lawful police management of the Queer Festival assembly, and now they belittle the execution of the warrant for the case in which they were reported as a retaliatory investigation. Are the prosecutors and courts involved in issuing the warrant also accomplices in this retaliatory investigation?"
On the 24th, Mayor Hong also posted on Facebook, saying, "For a search and seizure of a government office, the case must be serious and there must be sufficient evidence. Abuse of search and seizure rights to insult the other party is an abuse of investigative authority and illegal law enforcement that violates the principle of police proportionality."
The National Police Agency stated that the Daegu Police's response to the Queer Culture Festival was appropriate. At a press conference on the 26th, Police Deputy Commissioner Jo Ji-ho said, "Considering past practices and lower court rulings, the police position is that if it is a public road accessible to everyone, an assembly can be held with just a notification without permission."
Deputy Commissioner Jo added, "Since there is no significant problem with the actions of the Daegu Police Chief and the Daegu Police that day, I do not understand the purpose of Mayor Hong's statement about holding them accountable."
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