Jung Seong-ho: "Is Han Dong-hoon's Arrest Consent Explanation the People's Right to Know? It's a Human Rights Issue"

"Among all former Ministers of Justice, no one has explained it like Han did"

Amid the National Assembly's rejection of the arrest consent motion for lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man, who left the Democratic Party of Korea over the 2021 party convention money envelope scandal, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon faced criticism from Jeong Seong-ho, a leading pro-Moon (친명) Democratic Party lawmaker, for stating in his explanation of the arrest consent that "20 people who received money envelopes are participating in the vote."

On the 13th, in response to a question from the host of MBC's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" asking, "Isn't the explanation of the arrest consent part of the public's right to know?" Jeong said, "More than a matter of the right to know, it violates the highest principles of individual criminal justice, such as the presumption of innocence and the principle of non-detention."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In his explanation of the arrest consent the previous day, Minister Han mentioned, "20 people who received money envelopes will participate in the vote," which sparked outrage among Democratic Party lawmakers. Jeong said, "This is a human rights issue. From that perspective, I think the establishment of such a practice (in explaining arrest consent) is very dangerous," adding, "No previous justice minister, under any administration, has ever explained it in this manner."

He pointed out, "I believe it is illegal for the justice minister to come to the National Assembly and explain the details of the arrest warrant, including the gist of the criminal facts, the evidence, and the necessity of detention one by one," and added, "Basically, before a judge reviews the warrant, is the arrest warrant disclosed to the public? For ordinary suspects, is the warrant application and disclosure made? No, it is not."

Regarding Minister Han's specific mention of "20 Democratic Party lawmakers" in his explanation, Jeong said, "It seems like an unfounded, unilateral claim." When asked by the host if this meant it was a statement thrown out without basis, he replied, "That's how I see it."

He added, "Looking at the contents of the warrant or the issues announced in the media, there were doubts about whether this was truly a case warranting an arrest," and said, "there is suspicion that the prosecution fabricated a story to create the warrant without solid evidence."

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