Believer Accused of Public Nudity
PD Side Objects Citing "Public Interest"
Controversy has arisen after it was revealed that the PD who produced the Netflix documentary "I Am God," which exposed sexual violence crimes by Jeong Myeong-seok, the president of the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS), was sent to the prosecution on charges of violating the Sexual Violence Punishment Act. The police accepted JMS's accusation that including and distributing nude footage of a female believer in the documentary without her consent constituted a violation of the Sexual Violence Act, but legal circles have criticized the decision to send the case to prosecution for overlooking the public interest.
Poster of the Netflix documentary series 'I Am God: The People Betrayed by God'. [Image provided by Netflix]
On the 19th, lawyer Kim Seong-soon (former Media and Press Committee Chair of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun)) appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" and stated, "From the perspective of investigative agencies, they should actively assess the public interest and determine whether there is justification for illegality or not, whether there is justification for illegality under Article 20 of the Criminal Act."
Lawyer Kim explained, "In a recent similar case, a broadcaster entered a prison to film human rights conditions without obtaining permission for reporting but only permission to enter, and all the footage was broadcast, raising issues of trespassing or obstruction of official duties by deception. At that time, the broadcaster did not deceive about the reporting activity but only obtained consent for entry, and the Supreme Court ruled not guilty on those charges."
He added, "In criminal law, even in defamation provisions, Article 310 specifically provides justification for illegality, and there are many cases where the use of that provision and various precedents have exempted legitimate journalistic reporting."
He continued, "Whether the women who were exposed consented ultimately depends on how much public interest the footage emphasized. Crime reporting inevitably contains provocative and sensational elements," and said, "We need to look at the overall context of the footage, such as whether the purpose was to alert the public or merely to show something provocative."
He further noted, "The general public who watched the entire footage all agreed that it was for public interest," and added, "Therefore, criticism that the police's decision to send the case to prosecution is mechanical is inevitable."
Meanwhile, regarding the fact that JMS has filed about 40 complaints and accusations against the PD and other related parties including victims, lawyer Kim said, "They are engaging in actions that appear to support criminal behavior, so in such cases, the doctrine of abuse of the right to file complaints may also apply."
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