The prosecution has requested the court to sentence Cha Gyugeun, a member of the Joguk Innovation Party, who was indicted in connection with the illegal travel ban case involving former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, to imprisonment.
On the 2nd, during the sentencing hearing held by the Criminal Division 11-3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Park Young-joo, Park Jae-woo, Kim Young-hoon), the prosecution demanded a three-year prison term for Representative Cha.
They also requested three years imprisonment for Lee Gyu-won, spokesperson of the Joguk Innovation Party, who was indicted together, and two years imprisonment for Lee Kwang-cheol, former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary. These are the same sentences as those sought in the first trial.
The prosecution stated, "The court stipulates that restrictions on freedom of departure must be the minimum necessary, and the interpretation of laws related to travel bans, such as the Immigration Control Act, must also be minimal," adding, "No matter how bad a person is, due process must be followed."
On the other hand, in his final statement, Representative Cha said, "Looking at the investigation process, I cannot shake off the suspicion that there was an attempt to prosecute me from the start within a pre-set frame," and "When I heard that the employees who were only fulfilling their duties suffered because of a fictional indictment, anger and resentment welled up inside me."
He continued, "If the prosecution had investigated the Kim Hak-ui case as intensively as it did this case, public trust in prosecutors would not have fallen, and there would have been no emergency travel ban," and added, "I wondered whether justice in the Republic of Korea is just a facade."
Lee, the former secretary, Representative Cha, and spokesperson Lee are accused of abusing their authority and obstructing the exercise of rights by illegally banning Kim, the former deputy minister, from leaving the country on March 22, 2019, when his attempt to depart from Incheon International Airport was detected.
At that time, Lee, who was a prosecutor dispatched from the Past Affairs Investigation Team of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, submitted an emergency travel ban request form based on a past case number for which Kim had already been cleared, thereby blocking his departure. It was investigated that the subsequent approval request form contained an internal investigation number that did not exist.
Representative Cha, who was the head of the Immigration Headquarters of the Ministry of Justice, was investigated for approving the travel ban request a day later despite knowing that Lee had illegally banned Kim's departure, and was prosecuted together.
Former Secretary Lee is accused of leading the entire illegal travel ban process by coordinating between Representative Cha and spokesperson Lee after learning that Kim was attempting to leave the country. All of them denied the charges in court.
The first trial acquitted Representative Cha and former Secretary Lee in February of last year.
However, it recognized the guilt of spokesperson Lee for falsely stating that he was acting as the deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office when creating the travel ban request form and for concealing this document, which was used to obtain retroactive approval for Kim's travel ban. Nevertheless, considering the illegality was not significant, the court suspended the sentence of four months imprisonment.
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