Court Orders 77 Million KRW Criminal Compensation to Ahn Tae-geun for 'Seo Ji-hyun Allegation Not Guilty'

Former Prosecutor General of the Ministry of Justice Antaegeun / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Ahn Taegun, former Director of the Legal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice (age 54, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 20), who was acquitted after being prosecuted for giving personnel disadvantages to block Prosecutor Seo Jihyun's sexual harassment allegations, will receive approximately 77 million KRW in criminal compensation.

According to the court on the 24th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 51 (Presiding Judge Ko Yeon-geum) decided on the 21st that the state must pay Ahn 70.6 million KRW for detention compensation and 6.55 million KRW for criminal cost compensation. Criminal compensation is a system where the state reimburses the trial costs incurred by a party in a criminal trial when a not guilty verdict is finalized.

Previously, Ahn was prosecuted on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights for giving personnel disadvantages to Prosecutor Seo during the regular audit in April 2014 and the regular personnel reshuffle in August 2015 after Seo raised issues regarding his sexual harassment of her in October 2010.

In this regard, Ahn was detained in court in January 2019 during the first trial and was held in custody for about a year until the Supreme Court ruling and the decision for discretionary bail.

The first and second trials sentenced Ahn to two years in prison, but the Supreme Court in January last year overturned the case, stating that the crime of abuse of authority was not established. Subsequently, Ahn, who had been detained in a detention center, was released on discretionary bail and was acquitted in the retrial after remand.

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