Seoul, Nov 21 (IANS) South Korea’s main Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has filed an appeal against a suspended sentence by a local court over violations of the election law during the previous presidential campaign, legal sources said on Thursday.
On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced him to a one-year prison term suspended for two years as it found him guilty of making false statements in violation of the Public Official Election Act, Yonhap news agency reported.
Lee was accused of lying during a media interview in December 2021 that he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, a former executive of Seongnam Development Corp., which was behind a corruption-ridden development project in Seongnam, south of Seoul, when Lee was the city’s mayor. Lee also suggested he did not play golf with Kim while on a business trip to Australia.
He was also accused of lying during a parliamentary audit of the Gyeonggi provincial government in October 2021, that he was under pressure from the land ministry to rezone the former site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Seongnam.
The site was later developed into apartment complexes by a private developer, and allegations were raised that Lee rezoned the land to give preferential treatment to the company.
The court said all the statements were lies, though the part about not knowing Kim could not legalistically be considered a violation of the election law.
Lee appealed to the Seoul Central District Court. Prosecutors who sought a two-year prison term are also expected to lodge an appeal before the deadline of November 22 for an appeal.
Any final prison term or a fine of 1 million won ($710) or more would strip him of his parliamentary seat and his right to run in any elections, including the 2027 presidential election, for the next five years.
–IANS
int/jk/rad
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news 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 TodayIndia.news 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, TodayIndia.news 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.
