Seoul, Nov 25 (IANS) Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted Monday of charges of suborning a former mayoral secretary to make false court testimony in his favour, a ruling expected to ease his legal challenges ahead of an anticipated presidential run in 2027.
Lee, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, was accused of suborning a secretary to former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang to give false testimony during a 2019 trial on his alleged election law violations, Yonhap news agency reported.
The trial centred on charges that Lee, as a candidate for Gyeonggi governor, lied during a TV debate in 2018 about his conviction in the early 2000s, which was for impersonating a prosecutor in collaboration with a KBS TV news producer in order to investigate the mayor over a real estate corruption scandal.
Prosecutors later accused Lee of pressuring the secretary, Kim Jin-seong, to support his remark at the debate that he had been framed. The prosecution said Kim’s false testimony helped win Lee’s acquittal in the election law violation case and demanded three years in prison for Lee and 10 months for Kim.
“Based only on the evidence submitted by the prosecutor, there is not enough evidence that Lee Jae-myung deliberately tried to make Kim Jin-seong resolve to commit perjury,” the Seoul Central District Court said in delivering its ruling.
The court, however, found Kim Jin-seong guilty of committing perjury and sentenced him to a fine of 5 million won ($3,570).
The ruling was closely watched as it came only 10 days after the same court sentenced Lee to a suspended one-year prison term for making false statements as a candidate during the 2022 presidential campaign.
If that sentence is upheld, Lee will be stripped of his parliamentary seat and barred from running for public office for 10 years, including the 2027 presidential election.
Lee is also standing trial in three other cases on charges of corruption in connection with development projects in Seongnam, involvement in an illegal cash transfer of $8 million to North Korea and embezzlement of funds from the Gyeonggi provincial government.
“I thank the court that restored the truth and justice,” Lee said outside the court after his acquittal. “I will continue to do my best for a better life for our people.”
He later presided over a closed-door meeting of the party’s Supreme Council at the National Assembly.
When asked by reporters about his feelings on the verdict, he said it demonstrated that “justice prevails.”
The opposition leader has widely been considered a front-runner in the next election after having lost to President Yoon Suk Yeol by 0.73 percentage point in 2022.
–IANS
int/rs/as
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
