In the face of the 20th presidential election held in 2022, Jang Young-ha, chairman of the People's Power Seongnam-si Sujeong-gu Party Cooperation Committee, was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence in the second trial for raising the suspicion of then-Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's involvement in a gang.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Chamber 7 (Chief Judge Lee Jae-kwon) sentenced Jang to one year in prison and two years of probation on the 22nd, breaking a first trial ruling that acquitted him of publicizing false information under the Public Official Election Act.
Chairman Jang, who was a legal representative for Park Chul-min, an international mafia activist in Seongnam, is accused of claiming at a press conference in October 2021 that President Lee received about 2 billion won in exchange for business preferential treatment to the international mafia while serving as mayor of Seongnam.
Initially, the prosecution decided not to indict Chairman Jang because he believed Park's words to be true and reported the suspicions. Later, the court accepted the ruling application filed by the Democratic Party of Korea against the prosecution's non-prosecution, and Chairman Jang was handed over to trial in May 2023, and was acquitted at the first trial in January.
The first trial judged that there was no perception that Chairman Jang was disclosing false information. However, the second trial said, "It is quite likely that Chairman Jang announced the issue, at least recognizing that the facts of the issue could be false."
The court explained, "As long as it is difficult to prove the false satellite from the outside, we have no choice but to judge the person's educational background, career, social status, details and timing of the announcement based on the specificity of the announcement and the source of the contents." "In light of this, the defendant held a press conference relying only on photos of cash bundles that were not related to the facts of the issue and statements made by Park Chul-min without obtaining objective data to clearly prove the facts," he said.
"Considering the series of processes and press conferences in which the defendant contacted Park Chul-min, received reports, and held press conferences, it is questionable whether the false information was announced to damage the political activities of Lee Jae-myung, a leading candidate in the 20th presidential election, and to gain a politically advantageous position," he said. "The impact on the presidential election cannot be ignored, given Lee Jae-myung's narrow defeat in the 20th presidential election."
Lee Sang-gyu, reporter for Digital Newsroom ([email protected] )
It's a legend that the first trial acquitted this.