"All Trial Dates Should Be Postponed Until After the Presidential Election"
On May 6, the Democratic Party of Korea announced that it would take comprehensive action, urging the postponement of the retrial for presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's violation of the Public Official Election Act.
At a meeting of the general headquarters chiefs held that day, Yoon Hojoong, head of the election campaign headquarters, stated, "I once again request this of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Heedae," and added, "Postpone all trial dates scheduled during the official campaign period for presidential candidates until after the presidential election, before the official campaign period begins on May 12."
Yoon emphasized, "Chief Justice Cho Heedae is abandoning both the principle of due process and the principle of political neutrality in order to hunt down the main opposition party's presidential candidate, and is even disregarding the constitutional spirit that seeks to robustly protect the political rights of the citizens in a democratic nation."
Park Beomgye, head of the Fair Election Legal Support Team, characterized Chief Justice Cho as "the planner and executor of a targeted trial intervening in the presidential election." He criticized, "This constitutes a violation of multiple constitutional principles and statutory laws, and therefore amounts to grounds for impeachment under the Constitution."
Park pointed out, "Article 116 of the Constitution guarantees equal opportunity for election campaigning, and also guarantees the candidate's political rights, the right to hold public office, and the right to run for office. Forcing a trial during the campaign period is also a violation of the principle of proportionality inherent in Article 37 of the Constitution."
He stated that he plans to request a change of trial dates that reflects all constitutional values and orientations, as well as statutory regulations, related to all of candidate Lee Jae-myung's trials.
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