Prosecutor Staff Illegally Detained... Truth and Reconciliation Commission Recommends Honor Restoration Measures

The 2nd Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Past Affairs (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) judged that a prosecution employee suffered human rights violations during the prosecution's investigation process and recommended that the state apologize and implement measures for restoring honor, such as retrials.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 6th, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission announced at the 58th committee meeting held at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, that it had decided to investigate the truth of the 'human rights violation case involving illegal detention and coercive investigation by a prosecutor.'

According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, at that time, Mr. A was a public official in charge of receiving petitions at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office Case Division in October 1990. Mr. A received a petition from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stating that Investigator B had accepted bribes during the investigation process. Upon learning this, Investigator B replaced the petition with a new one excluding his own misconduct and had Mr. A hand it over to the prosecutor in charge.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office and Seoul District Prosecutors' Office forced Mr. A to admit to forging the petition, arguing that if this fact became public, the credibility of the entire prosecution could be damaged. The prosecutor in charge of the investigation forced Mr. A to admit to being an accomplice and to resign, illegally detained Mr. A in the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office prosecutor's office for several days without a warrant, preventing him from leaving work. Additionally, they coerced a confession through verbal abuse, insults, and overnight interrogations. In July 1991, Mr. A was indicted by the Criminal District Court on charges including damage to official documents and was sentenced to one year in prison with two years of probation.

After receiving a guilty verdict and resigning, Mr. A revealed the details of the coercive investigation through the media, and in May 1991, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office urgently arrested Mr. A and Investigator B.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission explained, "The coercive investigation and forced resignation experienced by Mr. A were inappropriate investigations that violated the principle of warrant requirement, among others," and added, "This is a serious human rights violation that infringed on the victim's personal rights and physical freedom." Furthermore, it recommended, "Regarding the illegal investigation and human rights violations committed by public authority, the state should apologize to the victim and take measures such as legal remedies including retrials and victim restoration."

Meanwhile, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission also made decisions to investigate the truth in nine cases, including the 'Seoul National University Department of History Anti-Communist Law Violation Case,' the 'Human Rights Violation Case of Fishermen Abducted and Returned,' and the 'March 15 Fraudulent Election-related Student Protest Participation Cases at Masan Commercial High School and Masan Girls' Middle School.'

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