Geochang Civic Group Files Criminal Complaint Against Councilor Kim Hyang-ran for Abuse of Authority

Claims of Violation of Residents' Right to Participate in the Budget and Accounts Committee Process

Geochang Civic Group Submits Prosecutor's Complaint Against Councilor Kim Hyang-ran

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] The Geochang YMCA Citizens' Business Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Citizens' Business Committee) filed a complaint with the prosecution on the 14th against independent Geochang County Council member Kim Hyang-ran for 'abuse of authority.'

The Citizens' Business Committee stated that during the Budget and Accounts Special Committee meeting of the Geochang County Council held on the 10th, then-chairperson Kim Hyang-ran blocked the attendance of civic groups by claiming there were no seats available in the gallery despite empty seats being present. They defined this as a serious crime violating residents' right to participate and submitted a complaint to the prosecution.

Hong Jeong-hee, chairperson of the Citizens' Business Committee, claimed, "There were extra seats available at the time, and we did not interfere with the stable progress of the meeting in any way, but the chairperson completely blocked attendance regardless of public peace or order."

Chairperson Hong added, "This clearly violates the constitutional guarantee of residents' right to know and Article 60 of the Local Autonomy Act (attendance at committee meetings, etc.). The right to know can be restricted when necessary, but even in such cases, the essential content cannot be infringed," emphasizing the point.

She continued, "This infringes on the essence of the right to know, and such actions by the chairperson constitute abuse of authority. We filed the complaint with the hope that such incidents will not recur and to prevent Council member Kim Hyang-ran and other council members from abusing their authority to unjustly restrict the residents' right to know during meetings," she added.

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