[Breaking] Lee Jae-myung Arrest Warrant Dismissed… Court Says "Need to Guarantee Right to Defense"

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is leaving the Seoul Central District Court after completing the pre-trial detention hearing on the afternoon of the 26th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, avoided detention. On the 27th, Yoo Chang-hoon, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, dismissed the arrest warrant requested by the prosecution for Lee at 2:23 a.m. after conducting a detention hearing for the former leader the previous day.

Judge Yoo stated, "Considering the necessity of protecting the suspect's right to defense and the degree of concern over evidence tampering, it is difficult to find grounds and necessity for detention to the extent that the principle of non-detention investigation should be excluded."

Earlier, on the 18th, the prosecution had requested an arrest warrant for Lee on charges including granting various special favors to a private contractor in Baekhyeon-dong, causing at least 20 billion won in damages to Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, and having Kim Sung-tae (detained and indicted), former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, pay a total of 8 million dollars to North Korea on his behalf.

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