Prosecution Seeks Prison Sentence Again in Appeal for Jeong Jin-woong in 'Han Dong-hoon Official Assault' Case

Handonghoon, Deputy Director of the Judicial Research and Training Institute (left), and Jeong Jinwoong, Research Fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] During the process of securing a mobile phone SIM card in a search and seizure operation, the prosecution requested a prison sentence again in the second trial for Jeong Jin-ung, a research fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute, who is accused of assaulting Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon.

On the afternoon of the 29th, the prosecution requested the court to "sentence him to one year in prison," just as in the first trial, during the appeal trial of Jeong’s case on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (official violence) held at the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judges Lee Won-beom, Han Ki-soo, Nam Woo-hyun).

Jeong, who was working as the chief prosecutor of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in July 2020, was prosecuted for assaulting Prosecutor Han, who was suspected of being involved in the attempted coercion case of former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae, during the search and seizure operation. Official violence refers to acts where prosecutors or police officers abuse their authority during investigations to arrest, assault suspects, or commit cruel acts.

On this day, the prosecutor said, "The defendant has made no effort to restore the damage," and "Considering that the extent of the damage is not minor, the sentence imposed by the lower court is too light." On the other hand, Jeong said in his final statement, "I am sorry and regretful for causing emotional harm to the victim," but added, "As the prosecutor executing the search and seizure, I had no choice but to act that way."

In the previous first trial, Jeong was sentenced to four months in prison with one year of probation and one year of disqualification. The first trial court stated, "The defendant assaulted under the subjective judgment that the victim was attempting to destroy evidence during the execution of the search warrant," and "There was at least minimal intent not only to take the mobile phone but also to use physical force on the body."

However, the first trial court judged that Prosecutor Han did not suffer injury from Jeong’s official violence and applied the general official violence charge instead of the aggravated official violence charge under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

Both the prosecution and Jeong’s side appealed the first trial verdict.

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