“Goodbye, Lee Jae-myung” (2021), “Goodbye, Crime Buster” (2024), etc., a book dealing with the family conflict of Lee Jae-myung, the representative of the Democratic Party of Korea, was written, and lawyer Jang Young-ha, who was referred to as “Lee Jae-myung Sniper,” was finally fined for violating the Public Official Election Act.
According to the legal community on the 10th, the Supreme Court’s Second Division (presided by Judge Lee Dong-won) confirmed the original trial sentence that fined lawyer Jang 700,000 won for violating the Public Official Election Act (violating the restriction on using amplification devices).
The court stated the reason for rejecting Jang’s appeal, saying, “There is no error in the legal understanding of collective offenses, misconceptions of law, election campaigning, the scope of annulment, or violations of rules of evidence, and the principle of free evidence was not violated while violating logic and the law of experience.”
Lawyer Jang was charged with holding election campaigning by speaking at the “National Resolve Rally for the Establishment of Fairness and Common Sense” held in Geumsan-dong, Gyesan-dong, Incheon on May 26, 2022, ahead of the supplementary election in Gyeyang.
Article 91(1) of the Public Official Election Act states, “Except for speaking at public places, dialogue sites, or debate venues under the provisions of this Act, amplification devices cannot be used for election campaigning,” prohibiting the use of amplification devices for election campaigning except for some cases such as publicized campaign activities or debates with candidates.
At the time, lawyer Jang made statements like, “I have been watching the guy who ran away from Bundang to Gyeyang for a long time” and “It is important to vote for the district mayor and Gyeyang in this local election.”
Other participants also made remarks such as, “We must help establish a proper Republic of Korea of fairness and common sense for the President” or targeted the representative by saying, “We must drive him out to Seongnam,” leading to being charged alongside lawyer Jang.
The first trial court fined lawyer Jang 700,000 won. A YouTuber, Kim, who conducted illegal election campaigning in places other than the rally, was fined 3 million won, and the rest of the rally participants were fined 700,000 won each.
During the trial, lawyer Jang argued, “I simply gave a speech on the importance of freedom without knowing the name or nature of the event after being asked to give a speech at the event,” and stated, “There is no intention to engage in election campaigning targeting a specific candidate’s election or defeat, and no involvement in conspiracy or collaboration with other defendants.”
However, the court judged that considering the timing of the statements made in the election area just five days before the National Assembly by-election and the fact that all defendants made statements indicating the importance of the by-election vote and implicitly suggesting the defeat of candidate Lee Jae-myung, the defendants’ actions clearly fall under election campaigning with the objective intent to promote the defeat of the said candidate.
Lawyer Jang also argued that he cannot be charged as a co-conspirator or co-offender because he did not agree in advance with other defendants’ decision to use amplification devices.
However, the court did not accept this argument, stating that based on the circumstances of Jang’s participation in the assembly, his motives, the content of his statements, and the means of his statements, it can be sufficiently recognized that Jang conspired with the other co-defendants and jointly committed the crime in this regard.
Despite appealing, the second trial’s judgment was the same. The Supreme Court also found no problem with this second trial judgment.
Meanwhile, lawyer Jang ran as a candidate for the Gyeonggi Seongnam-Sujeong-gu National Assembly in the 22nd general election but was defeated.