Former Lawmaker Roh Woongrae Acquitted in First Trial on Charges of Receiving Illegal Political Funds (Comprehensive)

Court: "Prosecution's Evidence Collection Violated Due Process, Severity Not Minor"
Roh: "A Victory for Judicial Justice Over Political Prosecutors"

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Roh Woongrae, who was indicted on charges of receiving 60 million won in illegal political funds, is leaving the courthouse after being acquitted in the first trial held at the Seoul Central District Court on the 26th. Photo by Yonhap News

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Roh Woongrae, who was put on trial on charges of receiving illegal political funds, was acquitted in the first trial. The court did not accept any of the evidence collected by the prosecution.

On the 26th, Presiding Judge Park Kanggyun of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 4 acquitted former lawmaker Roh, who had been indicted on charges of bribery, influence peddling, and violation of the Political Funds Act.

Judge Park stated, "There are suspicions that, even for the electronic information in this case, the authorities continued to selectively filter the data before obtaining a voluntary submission confirmation. It is also difficult to see that the scope of the electronic information subject to voluntary submission was clearly specified, and it appears that all electronic data stored on the mobile phone was submitted without clear boundaries."

He further pointed out, "Without the electronic evidence in this case, the investigation would not have been initiated or properly conducted. The procedural violations committed by the investigative agency in obtaining this evidence constitute a breach of the warrant principle and due process, and the severity of these violations is by no means minor."

Initially, the prosecution obtained a lead in Roh's case while searching the mobile phone of Ms. Cho, the wife of businessman Mr. Park, during an investigation into the influence-peddling case involving former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jeonggeun. The prosecution claimed that they immediately halted the electronic search and summoned Ms. Cho to obtain her voluntary submission of the phone, but the court ruled that the electronic data from the phone was illegally collected and did not recognize its evidentiary value.

After the verdict, Roh stated, "The political prosecutors neither indicted nor booked the person who claimed to have given the money, and the investigating prosecutor, who had no authority to indict, nevertheless pushed ahead with an unlawful indictment. Today's ruling is a victory for judicial justice over political prosecution."

Roh was indicted without detention on charges of receiving a total of 60 million won from Mr. Park on five occasions between February and December 2020, in return for facilitating logistics center permits and providing favors for power plant supply and solar power projects.

Previously, during the final hearing, the prosecution had demanded four years in prison, a fine of 200 million won, and the forfeiture of 50 million won for Roh.

At the trial, Mr. Park was acquitted of the charge of giving money to Roh. However, he was found guilty of providing 330 million won to former Deputy Secretary-General Lee for campaign expenses and other purposes, and was sentenced to one year and five months in prison.