'Fast Track Collision' United Party Trial Begins, Postponed Once More

United Future Party "Difficult to Confirm Defendants' Appearance in Video"
3rd Hearing Date, June 1

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The trial of the Future United Party lawmakers indicted over last year's 'National Assembly Fast Track (Rapid Processing Agenda) Clash Incident' has been postponed again.

On the 28th, the Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Chief Judge Lee Hwan-seung) held the second pretrial conference for the case involving 27 people, including former Future United Party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn, lawmaker Na Kyung-won, three aides, and others, on charges of violating the National Assembly Act.

On this day, the defense attorney for the United Party requested the court for additional pretrial conference dates, saying, "The defendants need time to review the video footage recorded at the time of the incident to acknowledge the facts."

The defense argued, "The newly submitted video materials from the prosecution alone amount to about 900 gigabytes (GB)," adding, "Each defendant needs time to analyze these and express their opinions, as well as prepare their defense."

They continued, "For the defense to proceed, each defendant must be able to recognize the individuals appearing in the videos. However, since each video features from about 10 to several dozen people, the defendants cannot even confirm whether they themselves appear," and added, "If the prosecution reclassifies the videos according to the charges, the defendants can prepare their defense."

In response, the prosecution criticized, "There are already investigation reports analyzing the videos for each defendant," and said, "From these, it is possible to distinguish when the main charges occurred and at what minute and second the relevant person appears in which video. Requesting the prosecution to classify this again suggests insufficient understanding of the reports."

When the court pointed out, "The pretrial conference should not be used as a tool to delay the trial," the defense explained, "The defendants recently hired additional lawyers, and they need to collaborate with them to present their opinions. It is not that they intend to delay, but it is difficult to immediately clarify the evidence today."

The court responded, "The delay in hiring lawyers is the responsibility of the defendants," and said, "It has been almost four months since the trial began, and it is problematic that the trial has not yet started."

The defense replied, "Some defendants claim the facts are incorrect," and said, "We will meet with each defendant, listen to their stories, and organize and submit them as soon as possible."

Ultimately, the court accepted the defense's opinion and set the next pretrial conference for the morning of June 1.

The pretrial conference held on this day is a procedure to organize the prosecution and defense positions and issues regarding the charges and to plan the trial before the formal hearing, and the defendants are not required to appear in court in person.

Accordingly, none of the 27 defendants appeared in court for this trial.

The defendants were indicted earlier this year on charges of obstructing the National Assembly meeting from being held during the Fast Track clash in April last year.

Among them, nine lawmakers, including Kwak Sang-do, who were elected in the April 15 general election, will lose their seats if they are sentenced to a fine of 5 million won or more under the National Assembly Act.

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