This Newstapa youtube video was an update on prosecution misconduct in the case of former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook, who in 2015, was convicted on charges of violating election campaign fund laws allegedly by receiving 900,000,000 won, from business CEO, Han Man-ho. Han Man-ho repudiated his prior statements against the Prime Minister in court resulting in acquittal at the first trial. Newstapa somehow received a copy of Han's extensive written record of his contacts with prosecutors while imprisoned during the prosecution of Han Myung-sook. This record has undermined the credibility of the case against Han Myung-sook by revealing the unethical and illegal methods the prosecution allegedly used to fabricate a case against the Assembly woman and former Prime Minister.
The prosecution obtained testimony from witnesses in prison, one a serial fraud, and another a drug trafficker, to obtain statements contradictory to Han's repudiation in court of his prior statements upon which the case against the democratic Assemblywoman rested. Han Man-ho's turnabout resulted in acquittal at the first trial. At least one of these witnesses, "prisoner H," claims to have been coached by the prosecutor's office to produce statements to incriminate Han and impeach his testimony, in order to achieve the conviction of Han Myung-sook at a 2nd trial which was later upheld by the Supreme Court. Now Newstapa, the Korean Center for Investigative Journalism has disclosed statements from so called "prisoner H" that allege the unethical and criminal nature of the prosecution's methods to coerce testimony, including threatening prisoner H's family members with prosecution for as yet undetermined crimes, placing family members under "investigation," and taking a son "hostage," if the informant did not present statements supporting prosecutor contentions impeaching Han Man-ho and incriminating Han Myung-sook in court.
The floor leader of the Democratic Party in the National Assembly and the South Korean Minister of Justice are calling for a reinvestigation of the trial of Han Myung-sook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvpgfOFuNJg
뉴스타파 대박, 검사 3명 얼굴 공개ㄷㄷ ("족발 수육 얻어먹은 검사들" 대박)
104,223 views•May 25, 2020
김초운 tv
These are three prosecutors from the Seoul Central Prosecutors office who worked on the Han Myung-sook case, and allegedly shared fancy meals with informant Prisoner H while preparing the case and meeting with the informant repeatedly. The Central prosecutor's office has released general statements rebutting the alleged ethical violations. Im Kwan-hak said, "he hardly had any connection to the case." Kim Ki-dong said, "the investigation was accomplished in accordance with the law and regulations." Other rebuttals included, "Han man ho convinced Prisoner H to reverse his/her statements," and "...that the two witnesses were coached by the prosecutor's office is false." Other statements reported in the press included that prosecutors met with Prisoner H so many times because they were investigating other cases, and that Prisoner H's statements could not be trusted because they were those of a fraud. Allegedly, the prosecutors shared expensive meals with the informant multiple times, said to have been pig's feet and boiled pork dinners from fashionable restaurants. This compares unfavorably with the customary sharing an economical meal of Jja-jang myun during other long interrogations. A follow up by the Newstapa journalists allegedly produced receipts for such deliveries to the prosecutors office totally about $500. An embarrassment if true.
And in the related Cho Guk political cases:
"During my lifetime, I developed no interest in reform of the press nor prosecution. Outside of money things, I had no important interest whatever. I thought i didn't have any part to play. But in the last few months, my experience leading to this moment has brought me to keenly see that the tasks of press reform and prosecution reform are very important to me and the public. This, with my acknowledgement and reflection on my crime, is my intent to do together I think. Naturally, to obtain favorable treatment from the court in the disposition of my crime, I submit to the price I must pay. During the past several months i have keenly experienced as a party to the proceeding, I will not let the meaning slip away, but will become a person to help in the reform of the press and prosecution. Through the tragic experience of the last several months, if i can nurture our society even a little bit, i think i will become a more virtuous person."*
*[단독] 김경록 PB가 직접 밝힌 법정 폭탄발언의 이유_압축본 [빨간아재]
May 22, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f31xszhKP5Q
Prosecutors obtained a significant conviction in one of the Cho Guk related trials last week, when "personal banker" Kim Kyong-rok was convicted of concealing evidence in a criminal investigation and sentenced to ten months confinement in trial court. Allegedly, Kim at the behest of Chung Kyung-shim, college professor and wife of former Justice Minister Cho Guk, attempted to conceal evidence from prosecutors by removing hard drives from her computers. Kim's statements will probably also be used to implicate Cho Guk. Kim pled to removing hard drives from the personal computers of Chung at her home on August 28, 2019, and then further removing another hard drive from a computer at her office a few days later. Ostensibly, Kim was receiving a light sentence for surrendering the evidence to the prosecution investigating the case voluntarily, and acknowledging his guilt at the trial proceeding. Yet the procedure was tainted for the prosecutors because Kim Kyong-rok's statement was somewhat equivocal and included an intention to dedicate himself to help with efforts to reform the press and the prosecution after his personal experience with the implicitly unsavory combination.
Under the circumstances, it remains to be seen, how helpful Kim Kyong-rok will be in the ongoing prosecutions of Cho Guk and his spouse. It's possible that Kim's acknowledgement of guilt and prospective cooperation may have been obtained in a fashion similar to that of witnesses in the political prosecution of Han Myung-sook. Whether his interesting and cryptic statement is an indicator of any material revelations of prosecution misconduct is not clear. According to the Balgan Ajae video presentation, the complete statement by Kim Kyong-ruk was not published in the South Korean mainstream media, which essentially is a reflection of their conservative bias in favor of Chief Prosecutor Yeon Seok-yeol. It appears that a prima facie case for attempted concealment of evidence could be presented against Prof. Chung if Kim adheres to his statements thus far. Whether he could implicate Cho in the concealment of evidence appears less likely based on what is publicly known at this point. What is actually on the hard drives regarding alleged financial crimes hasn't been disclosed.
This blog post is the most recent in a series of posts, since March 15, interpreting South Korean alternative media analysis of political prosecutions and alleged prosecutorial abuses in the Central Prosecutor's Office headed by Yoon Seok-yeol.
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