Supreme Court Confirms Fines for Four Minbyun Lawyers Attempting to Arrest Police Officers During Assembly

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court has finalized fines for four lawyers affiliated with the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) who were indicted on charges of assaulting a police officer during a rally commemorating the victims of Ssangyong Motor and demanding the reinstatement of dismissed workers.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Park Jung-hwa) announced on the 14th that it upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing lawyers Lee Deok-woo, Kim Yoo-jung, Song Young-seop, and Kim Tae-wook to fines ranging from 1.5 million to 2 million KRW on charges including assault causing injury during an arrest.

The court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's application of the law regarding the objective and subjective elements of the crime of assault during an arrest."

It further dismissed the prosecution's appeal against the second trial's acquittal on charges of obstructing official duties, noting, "The police officers' prior entry and occupation of part of the rally site cannot be considered as the establishment of a line for maintaining order under the Assembly and Demonstration Act, as the lower court ruled, and the order-maintaining line was not set within the minimum necessary scope."

The lawyers were tried for allegedly grabbing the arm of the head of the Security Division of Namdaemun Police Station and dragging him about 20 meters, causing injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment, during a Ssangyong Motor rally held on July 25, 2013, in front of the Daehanmun flowerbed in Jung-gu, Seoul, while demanding the police withdraw their order to maintain order.

In court, the lawyers argued that their actions were legitimate self-defense to prevent unjust infringement on the freedom of assembly and that the arrest by the police violated the Assembly and Demonstration Act, constituting an unlawful on-the-spot arrest.

The first trial court found the police's execution of duty unlawful and acquitted the lawyers of obstructing official duties but convicted them of jointly using physical force against the police while in an agitated state, sentencing them to fines.

The second trial upheld the first trial's ruling. The court pointed out, "Although the situation did not warrant arresting the victim as a person caught in the act, the police officers attempted to arrest the victim, who was the on-site supervisor, as a person caught in the act, which was inappropriate in means and method, making it difficult to exempt them from responsibility."

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