Police Chief Yoon on Trial: "I Was Subjected to a Witch Hunt by the Prosecution"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

'There is no one who doesn't have dust when shaken.'

This was the gist of the position revealed by Police Commissioner Yoon Gyu-geun, known as the 'Police Chief,' at the first trial on the 7th. He claimed that the prosecution's investigation was conducted in a sweeping manner and that he was indicted on charges completely unrelated to the initially raised Burning Sun incident allegations.

At the trial held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 27 (Presiding Judge Jeong Gye-seon), Yoon's defense attorney stated, "When the investigation began following media reports, the issue was whether the defendant had received bribes from Seungri or former CEO Yoo In-seok," adding, "No such evidence emerged during the investigation, and the investigative authorities conducted a sweeping investigation in another form and indicted him."

Previously, the prosecution applied four charges against Commissioner Yoon, including abuse of authority, bribery solicitation, and instigation of evidence destruction, and indicted him while in custody. According to the prosecution, Yoon is accused of learning about the crackdown on the lounge bar 'Monkey Museum,' established by singer Seungri and his business partner, through a police investigator in charge. He is also accused of receiving unlisted company stocks worth tens of millions of won as a bribe (bribery solicitation under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes) in exchange for quashing a lawsuit filed by former CEO Jung of CubeS, a KOSDAQ-listed company, in 2016.

On this day, the defense denied all such charges. Regarding the allegation of collusion with Seungri's side, they said, "There is no fact of conspiracy to commit the crime of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights." They also argued, "If even the act of the head of the Gangnam Police Station's Economic Crime Investigation Division, who merely inquired about and informed the details of the crackdown, is considered abuse of authority, then all actions carried out according to the discretion and customs of investigative agencies would be abuse of authority, which contradicts the principle of legality."

Regarding the bribery solicitation charge, they stated, "The main evidence, the testimony of former CEO Jung, is not credible, so the facts cannot be trusted." They also claimed, "Most of the stock transactions resulted in losses." The defense also denied the allegation that during the Burning Sun investigation, Yoon instructed former CEO Jung to delete mobile phone messages and dispose of his phone in the Han River.

Commissioner Yoon, who appeared in court for the first time wearing a khaki prison uniform, responded only with "Yes, that's correct" when the court asked if the defense attorney's explanation matched his position. The court scheduled the second trial session for the 13th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.