The Court Orders Detention and Investigation Until December 5
Myeong Tae-gyun, a key figure in the cases involving First Lady Kim Geon-hee's 'alleged interference in candidate selection' and the Future Korea Research Institute's 'illegal opinion poll allegations,' had his request for a review of the legality of his detention, filed with the court claiming the detention was unjust, dismissed.
The Criminal Division 3 of Changwon District Court (Presiding Judge Oh Taek-won) dismissed Myeong's request for a detention review on the 27th.
The court stated the reason for dismissal, saying, "Based on the suspect interrogation results and records, it is recognized that there is no justifiable reason for this detention review request."
A detention review is a procedure where a detained suspect asks the court to re-examine the legality of their detention.
As a result, Myeong will remain in detention and continue to be investigated by the prosecution until the extended detention deadline of the 5th of next month, two days longer than the originally scheduled expiration on the 3rd.
The period from when the court receives the investigation-related documents and evidence until the decision is made and returned to the prosecution office is not included in the detention period for detention review requests.
Myeong's side reportedly argued that the detention was unjust, citing that Myeong does not fall under the category of 'other persons engaged in political activities' prohibited in relation to donation acts under the Political Funds Act, that he has never received political funds related to 'recommending a specific person as a candidate in a public election,' which is restricted by the Political Funds Act, and that the testimony of Kang Hye-kyung, the former accounting officer of former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-seon who raised the allegations in this case, was inconsistent.
The court issued an arrest warrant for Myeong on the 15th, citing concerns over evidence tampering.
The original detention expiration date was the 23rd, but the detention period had been extended once before.
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