Jee Man-won, suspected of posting false claims about the May 18 Democratization Movement online and defaming victims and bereaved families, was detained on the 27th. The court cited the risk of flight and of destroying evidence, while Jee denied the allegations.
According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, Judge Kim Hong-seop, the warrant judge at the Suwon District Court, issued a detention warrant on the 27th for conservative commentator Jee Man-won after questioning him before detention. The grounds were the risk of flight and of destroying evidence. Jee is suspected of defaming victims and bereaved families with false claims about the May 18 Democratization Movement.
광고 문의 · 300×250The allegations and the investigation
He is accused of posting some 60 messages on an internet site he runs that labeled citizens who took part in May 18 as North Korean troops or disparaged them. Police began their investigation after spotting the posts while monitoring the site around May 18.
Police applied for a warrant on the 14th of this month. The Kyunghyang Shinmun said they plan to look further into how the posts were written and spread.
Position at the warrant hearing
The Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that Jee attended the hearing and denied the charges. Holding up a book he wrote, he claimed it was the result of 24 years of research, and he criticized his earlier punishment over related charges, calling the ruling unconstitutional and a distortion of the law. He reportedly did not answer when asked whether he had anything to say to victims and bereaved families.
Detention is a procedure for continuing an investigation rather than a finding of guilt, and whether the allegations are true will be decided in the investigation and trial ahead. The timing of any indictment and the specific legal provisions applied were not confirmed in this report.
