Sentenced to 3 Years Imprisonment as in Original Trial
Court: "Crime Based on Unfounded Hatred and Prejudice Against Women"
Last year in Jinju, Gyeongnam, a man in his 20s who assaulted a female convenience store part-timer for having short hair was sentenced to prison again in the appellate court.
According to Yonhap News on the 15th, the Criminal Division 1 of Changwon District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Ju-yeon) dismissed the appeals of both the prosecutor and the defendant A, a man in his 20s charged with special assault and other offenses, and sentenced him to three years in prison, the same as the original sentence.
A was charged with assaulting B, a woman in her 20s working part-time at a convenience store in Jinju last November, and also assaulting C, a man in his 50s who tried to intervene. At the time, he assaulted B saying, "You are a feminist, so you deserve to be hit," because her hair was short. To C, who was nearby, he continued the assault saying, "Why don’t you take the man’s side? That woman is a feminist."
As a result of this incident, B suffers from severe tinnitus and now wears a hearing aid, and C also sustained injuries to his shoulder and other areas. In particular, after the incident, C quit his job to receive hospital treatment and cooperate with the investigation, and has been struggling financially while working temporary jobs. He was designated as a person with a disability by the Ministry of Health and Welfare last month.
B’s legal representative argued during the appeal that A had sufficient discernment and cognitive ability at the time of the incident and that diminished mental capacity should not be recognized. However, the first trial court acknowledged diminished mental capacity, considering that A had been hospitalized in 2022 for bipolar affective disorder, and based on the mental evaluation report from the National Forensic Hospital of the Ministry of Justice and the clinical psychological assessment by the Scientific Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, which suggested that A was likely in a diminished mental state at the time.
Women's group expressing their position after the sentencing in the 'Jinju convenience store assault' appeal trial. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The appellate court stated, "There is some inappropriateness in the original court’s inclusion of A’s act of damaging B’s mobile phone by putting it in a microwave as evidence of diminished mental capacity," but added, "That alone is insufficient to conclude that the prosecution proved the absence of diminished mental capacity."
It continued, "A’s crime was motivated by baseless hatred and prejudice against women, which is blameworthy, and A still claims that B hit him first, which is contrary to the facts, raising doubts about his remorse. However, the points raised by the prosecution and A have already been reflected in the original sentencing, and there are no special circumstances to consider in the appeal," explaining the reason for dismissing the appeal.
Women’s organizations in Gyeongnam, including the Gyeongnam Women’s Association, held a press conference after the appellate court’s ruling and said, "It is disheartening that A’s diminished mental capacity was recognized, but we consider it fortunate that the ruling explicitly stated that this was a misogynistic crime, along with the serious harm suffered by the victim."
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