Prosecutors and defense attorneys engaged in a sharp battle in court over the necessity of extending the detention of Ra Deok-yeon, a key figure in the Soci?t? G?n?rale (SG) Securities stock crash incident. Ra, who has been detained for a year while undergoing trial, is approaching the expiration of his detention period at midnight on the 26th. The court is expected to decide on whether to issue an additional detention warrant by early next week at the latest.
Mr. Ra Deok-yeon, suspected of leading stock price manipulation related to the crash caused by SG (Soci?t? G?n?rale) Securities. [Image source=Yonhap News]
According to the legal community on the 10th, the 11th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court (Chief Judge Jeong Do-seong) conducted a detention warrant hearing for Ra and his accomplice Byun Mo on the previous day before the main trial of the SG case. Ra and his accomplices Byun and Ahn were first detained and indicted on May 26 last year on charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Subsequently, after a second indictment in November on charges including violation of the Specific Economic Crimes Act (tax-related), their detention period was extended once. However, as the first trial has yet to conclude, the court must now decide whether to extend the detention again. In preparation, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office filed a third indictment against Ra and Byun on the 1st of last month for violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (issuance of false tax invoices, etc.).
During the detention warrant hearing, prosecutors and defense attorneys clashed sharply. Ra’s defense attorney argued, "The prosecution is requesting a third detention warrant by separating charges that are essentially the same or could be tried together from the cases already indicted and under trial to maintain the defendant’s detention status," adding, "This goes against the legislative intent of the Criminal Procedure Act’s 'detention period limit (maximum 6 months for first trial) and re-detention restrictions.'" Furthermore, they stated, "Until the third indictment, the defendant’s rights to a fair investigation and trial, as well as the right to legal counsel, were seriously infringed during the investigation process and the inspection and copying of evidence records."
On the other hand, prosecutors pointed out, "Since other defendants (accomplices) were released on bail, if Ra is released, there is a very high risk that related parties, especially the finance staff who issued false tax invoices, will be coerced." They emphasized, "The false tax invoices were originally created to conceal the investment commission settlement process, so there is a significant risk of evidence destruction." Regarding Ra’s claim of 'separate indictments,' prosecutors firmly stated, "All indictments from the first to the third are for individual and independent offenses."
On that day, both prosecutors and defense attorneys repeatedly rebutted each other’s statements regarding the issuance of an additional detention warrant for Ra, engaging in a tense confrontation. The decision on whether to extend Ra’s detention is expected to be made by early next week. The presiding judge said, "The decision on issuing an additional detention warrant will be made by the 14th at the latest."
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