'Illegal Assembly' Yang Kyung-soo's Detention Review Denied... Detention Maintained

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The court ruled that the detention of Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the National Democratic Labor Union Federation (Minju-choong), who is accused of leading illegal rallies in downtown Seoul, is lawful. Chairman Yang appeared in court privately and directly argued against the detention, but the court did not accept his claims.

On the 15th, the Criminal Appeals Division 1-1 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Kim Jaeyoung, Song Hyeyoung, Jo Jungrae) dismissed Chairman Yang's request for a detention review. The detention review system allows a detained suspect to challenge the legality of their detention and request the court to reconsider the matter.

Chairman Yang was booked on charges of leading several illegal protests from May to July (violations of the Assembly and Demonstration Act, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, and general traffic obstruction). Notably, approximately 8,000 people attended the National Workers' Rally held in downtown Seoul on July 3, according to the organizers' estimates. The police secured his custody on the 2nd, 20 days after the court issued the detention warrant, and transferred him to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 6th.

Before the hearing, Chairman Yang's lawyer stated, "The charge of violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, which the prosecution intended to indict, has a high possibility of being unconstitutional," and added, "Most of the actual sentences for the applied charges are fines, so there is no need to continue detention."

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