Prosecution: "Courts Divided Over Legality of Digital Evidence Collection Procedures"
The prosecution has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court regarding the appellate court's verdict on Assemblyman Heo Jong-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea and former lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lim Jong-sung, who were charged with violating the Political Parties Act and other offenses.
On December 26, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office stated, "Recently, there have been conflicting judgments among courts regarding the legality of digital evidence collection procedures," and added, "We decided to appeal, considering the need for a unified standard."
Previously, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judges Kim Joungho, Lee Sangjoo, and Lee Wonsuk) overturned the first-instance verdict on December 18, which had sentenced Assemblyman Heo and former lawmakers Yoon and Lim to suspended prison terms for allegedly exchanging envelopes of cash ahead of the 2021 Democratic Party convention, and acquitted them.
The court did not admit any of the evidence collected by the prosecution. The court found that the materials obtained by the prosecution in connection with this case violated due process and therefore could not be used as evidence. Accordingly, the court excluded the evidentiary value of all electronic information stored on mobile phones secured by the prosecution. The court further determined that the remaining evidence submitted by the prosecution was insufficient to support the charges in this case.
They had been indicted on charges of exchanging envelopes containing 3 million won each at a meeting of lawmakers supporting former party leader Song Young-gil, held in the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's small conference room at the National Assembly main building on April 28, 2021. Former lawmaker Yoon, who was also tried for delivering the envelopes to them, was separately indicted for receiving 60 million won from a member of Song's campaign and was sentenced to two years in prison by the Supreme Court. Yoon was released on parole in June 2024.
Earlier, in the appellate trial of former lawmaker Lee Sung-man, who had been convicted in the first instance for receiving cash envelopes, the court also raised issues with the admissibility of evidence and acquitted him. The prosecution has also appealed this decision.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
