Prosecution Seeks 2-Year Prison Sentence Again for Lee Tae-jong in 2nd Trial on 'Judicial Farming' Charges

Former Chief Judge Lee Tae-jong of Seoul Western District Court Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The prosecution has requested a two-year prison sentence again in the appellate trial for former Seoul Western District Court Chief Judge Lee Tae-jong, who was indicted on charges of leaking investigation secrets to the Court Administration Office.

On the afternoon of the 8th, the prosecution requested a two-year prison sentence at the appellate trial of former Chief Judge Lee held at the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 13 (Presiding Judge Choi Suhwan), the same as in the first trial.

Previously, former Chief Judge Lee was prosecuted on charges of leaking official secrets for extracting information from investigation records attached to a warrant requested by the prosecution during an investigation into corruption at the Seoul Western District Court Enforcement Officer's Office in 2016, preparing a report, and sending it to the Court Administration Office. He was also charged with abuse of authority for instructing court staff to report copies of the warrant application and statements from related persons to the prosecution.

On this day, the prosecution stated, "The original court's judgment of acquittal contains factual and legal errors. In particular, considering the related evidence comprehensively, the defendant received investigation updates and gave instructions from Na Sang-hoon, then a planning judge, but the original court ruled that Na Sang-hoon's court testimony was not credible," emphasizing, "The person who lied is not Na Sang-hoon but the defendant."

On the other hand, former Chief Judge Lee argued in his final statement, "The prosecution arbitrarily indicted me by abusing their authority without proper evidence," and "They targeted me for prosecution thinking that at least a court chief should be indicted to make themselves look prominent."

He added, "The initial summons and investigation by the prosecution was an extremely painful time for me, who has lived as a judge for 30 years," and "The prosecution's meaningless delay cannot overturn the already revealed truth. I believe the wise court will judge well according to law and principles."

The first trial ruled not guilty, stating, "There is no evidence to acknowledge that there was an instruction or request from the Court Administration Office to stop the expansion of the investigation," and "Former Chief Judge Lee only ordered a thorough audit, and even looking at the materials collected by the court, there is no material related to the expansion of the investigation beyond what was necessary for the audit."

The appellate trial verdict for former Chief Judge Lee is scheduled to be held at 2 p.m. on the 19th of next month.

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