"Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong Should Not Be Pardoned... Must Pay for His Crimes," Academia and Civic Groups Issue Declaration

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Academia and civic groups have issued a declaration opposing the special pardon and parole of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

The group 'Intellectuals United Against the Special Pardon and Parole of Lee Jae-yong' released a statement on the 18th, saying, "Granting a special pardon and parole to Vice Chairman Lee, who committed crimes related to state affairs manipulation and whose judicial proceedings on other cases have not yet concluded, is a highly inappropriate act that undermines the foundation of the rule of law in this country and the values of fairness in this era."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

They stated, "President Moon Jae-in must not betray the Candlelight Government's promise to uphold the values of fairness and justice by pardoning former Vice Chairman Lee," and added, "Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye must not trample on the basic principle of the rule of law that all are equal before the law and that offenders must pay for their crimes."

They continued, "The prosecution must thoroughly investigate whether the Samsung Wellstory family was involved in the preferential allocation of work, and the media must take the lead in protecting the values of fairness and justice in society."

The declaration was signed by 781 people, with 13 initiators including former Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Kwak No-hyun and Hongik University Professor Jeon Seong-in.

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