Koh Young-ju Who Said “Moon Jae-in is a Communist” Found Guilty, Court Capitulated to Blue House Pressure
2020-8-27, Media Today [TRANSLATION]
Koh Young-ju (고영주), former chairman of the Foundation for Broadcast Culture (MBC’s board) and a former public security prosecutor, who said that “Moon Jae-in is a communist,” was found guilty [of “defaming” Moon Jae-in] in a criminal trial seven years after his remarks.
As it is a defamation lawsuit brought by the incumbent president and it resulted in overturning the not-guilty verdict of the first trial [against Koh], social attention is being focused.
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Immediately after the sentencing in the first trial, Koh Young-ju, former chairman, said, “The communist remarks were not subject to prosecution, because they were both expressive and commentary” and “by law, I was already innocent.”
Unlike the first trial, however, the 9th Division of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Affairs Office (서울중앙지법 형사항소9부) (Chief Judge Choi Han-don 최한돈) sentenced former Chairman Ko Young-ju, who was charged with defamation, to 10 months in prison and two years probation. The prosecution sought one year and six months in prison.
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[Note: This is yet another case of suppressing free speech in South Korea under the Moon Jae-in administration. For background on this case, see here, here, and here.]
Source: http://www.mediatoday.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=208967
