"Computer Files Are Not Objects, Therefore Not Punishable"
Criminal Compensation Claims... Expected to Receive Hundreds of Thousands of Won
It has been reported that the defendant in the so-called Hanyang University ‘Ji-in Neung-yok’ case that occurred in 2018 filed a claim for criminal compensation with the court after most charges were acquitted due to the lack of legal grounds for punishment.
According to the legal community on the 18th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judges Kwon Soon-hyung, Ahn Seung-woo, Shim Seung-hoon) received an application from Mr. Lee last month on the 12th requesting criminal compensation. Criminal compensation is a system that compensates defendants who have been acquitted for damages related to days of detention, attorney fees, transportation costs, and so on.
Mr. Lee was indicted in January 2019 on charges of instructing an unknown person to produce 17 instances of nude photos with the faces of female acquaintances, including friends from the same department and senior and junior club members, digitally superimposed (charge of instructing the manufacture of obscene materials) from April to November 2017. He was also charged with defamation for using sexually degrading expressions toward the victims during the commission of the offense, and with illegally filming the bodies of high school girls and others six times in places such as the subway and lecture rooms.
This was discovered when someone who found Mr. Lee’s lost mobile phone opened it to find the owner and confirmed the composite photos.
Last month, an emergency press conference condemning deepfake sex crimes was held near Gangnam Station in Seoul, organized by the Seoul Women's Association and the Seoul Women's Association Feminist University Student Union Club. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The victims filed a complaint against Mr. Lee with the police in December 2017. Additionally, nearly 20 victims formed a group and publicized the damage through social networking services (SNS), bringing the case to public attention. Hanyang University expelled Mr. Lee in March 2018.
Afterward, Mr. Lee enlisted in the military and was tried, receiving an 8-month prison sentence in both the first and second trials. At the time of indictment, there was no law to punish the new crime of deepfake sexual exploitation, so the military prosecutor applied the charge of instructing the manufacture of obscene materials, which punishes the production of obscene items.
However, in April 2020, the Supreme Court canceled Mr. Lee’s detention ex officio. Then, in December last year, it overturned the second trial ruling, stating that some charges should be acquitted because computer files and the like cannot be considered objects, and thus Mr. Lee could not be punished.
The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 8 (Presiding Judges Kim Jae-ho, Kim Kyung-ae, Seo Jeon-gyo), which took over the case, recognized only the defamation charge as guilty in March and sentenced Mr. Lee to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation. The illegal filming charges were acquitted due to procedural errors during the seizure of the mobile phone. Neither Mr. Lee nor the prosecution appealed, so this ruling was finalized as is.
Having been punished only under general criminal law charges and acquitted of all sex crime charges, Mr. Lee applied to the court for criminal compensation. He mobilized 18 lawyers during the trial process.
Since Mr. Lee was sentenced to a suspended prison term, it is difficult for him to receive compensation for detention. He can be compensated for attorney fees and travel expenses calculated by the court based on the public defender’s allowance. Accordingly, the criminal compensation is estimated to be in the range of several million won. However, since it is not a complete acquittal, the court may reduce the actual compensation after considering various circumstances.
Meanwhile, a victim of Mr. Lee’s case criticized at a rally held on the 6th, saying, “Technology is becoming more sophisticated day by day, but the law remains stuck in the past, creating a clear legal gap that prevents punishment,” and asked, “How many more victims and how much greater damage must there be?”
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