Participants in the "Kim Ki-chun Release Opposition Rally" Receive Suspended Sentences and Fines in Second Trial

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Citizens' groups and political party officials who protested in front of the detention center when former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-chun was released were sentenced to suspended prison terms and fines in the appellate court as well.

The Criminal Appeals Division 3 of the Seoul Eastern District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Chun-ho) on the 1st upheld the original verdict sentencing Lee Jong-moon, Chairman of External Cooperation of the Korean Progressive Alliance (52), to 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspension, and Han Gyu-hyeop, Chairman of the Gyeonggi Workers' Progressive Party (48), to 4 months in prison with a 2-year suspension, on charges including violation of the Assembly and Demonstration Act.

Additionally, among the nine other protest participants indicted together, two were given a suspended sentence with a fine of 500,000 won, and seven were sentenced to fines ranging from 1 million to 2 million won each.

They were prosecuted for protesting in front of the Seoul Eastern Detention Center on August 6, 2018, the day former Chief of Staff Kim was released after the expiration of his detention period, by blocking Kim as he tried to get into a car and hurling insults.

The court stated, "Considering the defendants' prior records and their roles during the assembly, we have newly sentenced some individuals while maintaining the original verdict for the others."

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