Prosecution Seeks 1-Year Prison Sentence for Yoo Si-min in Appeal Trial on 'Han Dong-hoon Defamation Charges'

The prosecution has requested a prison sentence in the appellate trial for former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min, who received a fine in the first trial for defamation against Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon.

Former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Director Yoo Si-min, who was indicted on charges of defaming Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon, is responding to reporters' questions as he attends the first trial held at the Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul on the 21st.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

On the 23rd, during the appellate trial for defamation by radio broadcast at the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Appeals Division 1 (Presiding Judge Woo In-seong), the prosecution requested a one-year prison sentence.

The prosecution explained the reason for the request, stating, "The defendant's statements were recognized as false facts and were made with the intent to defame. Considering the defendant's career, it is judged that he knew his statements would have a significant social impact. Therefore, we ask the court to overturn the original verdict and sentence him to one year in prison." Former Chairman Yoo said, "I apologize to everyone for the social energy being consumed by this case," but also stated, "I feel very unfair about being found guilty in the first trial."

Former Chairman Yoo is accused of defaming Minister Han by stating on the YouTube channel Alileo in December 2019, "It is presumed to be the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, but I confirmed that the prosecution looked into my personal account and the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation's account." Additionally, in April 2020 on a radio broadcast, he mentioned the 'Channel A media collusion suspicion report' and claimed, "Since last year, the prosecution must have been looking into my accounts to find corruption." In July 2020, he also stated on the radio, "It is highly likely that the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, where Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon worked, looked into the accounts."

The Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, where Minister Han worked, was found not to have directly or through various levels of prosecutors' offices ordered financial institutions to provide foundation account information, nor to have viewed or seized transaction details through account tracing.

In June, the first trial court found that former Chairman Yoo had a 'false perception' regarding his statements in 2019 and July 2020. However, it judged that it was difficult to see that Yoo was aware of the falsehood of his April 2020 statement at the time and acquitted him on that count. Furthermore, regarding the July 2020 statement, considering reports such as the MBC Newsdesk broadcast and transcripts that suggested circumstances warranting suspicion of Yoo being investigated, the court sentenced him to a fine of 5 million won.

The verdict will be delivered on December 21 at 2:30 p.m.

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