Election Commission officials sorting ballots at a counting booth set up at the Yeongdeungpo Multipurpose Badminton Gymnasium in Dosan-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. /Photo=Reporter Lim Han-byeol
Prosecutors are tightening the reins on the investigation of election crimes that are flooding in around the April 10 general elections. In addition, the prosecution’s investigation clock is expected to run quickly, with the prosecution speeding up the handling of major cases that had been slow for a while due to the burden of ‘election interference’.
According to Newsis on the 11th, the prosecution has started an emergency work system by activating election investigation teams in each prosecutor’s office since the beginning of this year. In the case of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, a constant cooperation system has been established with the National Election Commission and the police to enable emergency contact 24 hours a day.
Analysis suggests that the reason for the prosecution’s rapid response is that there is a short statute of limitations on election crimes. The statute of limitations for crimes violating the Public Official Election Act is six months from the election date. The statute of limitations for election violations in this general election runs until October 10th.
Although the time given is tight, the number of people booked exceeds 1,000 in each recent National Assembly election, including 1,270 people in the 21st election, 1,451 people in the 20th election, and 1,096 people in the 19th election.
According to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, as of the 7th, a total of 657 people have been booked by the prosecution for election violations in this general election. If the police’s own arrests are added to this, the number of election offenders is likely to increase even more, even considering double counting. According to an announcement from the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Agency, the police detected 895 people as election offenders as of the 26th of last month.
For a smooth investigation, cooperation between investigative agencies is an important task. In the 20th presidential election, which was held after the adjustment of investigative powers of the prosecution and police, it was pointed out that the investigation was hindered because the prosecution could not see the police investigation records until they were transferred. This time, the prosecutors and police plan to present and exchange opinions essentially three months before the completion of the statute of limitations.
The prosecution’s investigation into major cases, which had not made any notable moves ahead of the general election, is expected to pick up steam again.
Due to concerns over criticism of ‘election interference’, it was inevitable to adjust the pace in the investigation of suspicions involving political figures, but with the general election over, such burden was relieved.
First, the prosecution plans to coordinate a summons schedule again with current and former lawmakers who are suspected of receiving bribes in the ‘2021 Democratic Party National Convention money envelope distribution incident’.
After investigating lawmakers Lim Jong-seong and Heo Jong-sik, the prosecution, which went beyond the investigation into the donors of the money envelopes to the stage of investigating the recipients, ordered the remaining suspects to appear in early February, saying, “If you are a citizen of the Republic of Korea, you cannot have any privileges in the criminal justice process.” urged. However, everyone refused to comply, and the investigation was virtually halted.
Accordingly, the prosecution first handed over Rep. Lim and Rep. Heo, who were investigated, to trial at the end of February. The prosecution is expected to take legal action after investigating the remaining suspects of bribery, including those who attended a support meeting for Song Young-gil, leader of the Pine Tree Party (former Democratic Party leader).
The ‘Ulsan Mayoral Election Intervention Case’ is also one of the cases that will attract attention in the future. The Public Investigation Department 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which received an order for a renewed investigation from the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, began a search and seizure of the Presidential Archives on the 7th of last month and has been working hard to secure related materials for a long time.
Among the people subject to reinvestigation, particular attention is being paid to former Presidential Chief of Staff Lim Jong-seok and former Justice Minister Cho Kuk (current leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party). The two are suspected of being involved in the suspicion of buying a rival candidate and the suspicion of investigating Ha Myung, respectively. In January 2020, the first investigation team did not indict them due to insufficient evidence, but the non-indictment letter at the time reportedly contained the content, “It is true that there is a strong suspicion that they participated in the crime.”
The ‘President Yoon Seok-yeol defamation case’, which has been subject to compulsory investigation for 7 months, and the progress of the ‘Daejang-dong 5 billion club case’, which recently underwent compulsory investigation again, are also considered issues of interest to the legal community.
2024-04-11 01:30:05
#time #prosecution #return.. #Flexibility #investigating #major #cases #burden #election #intervention
