[사회][취재N팩트] “It’s right that I caught the flesh…” Isn’t Lee Yong-gu subject to punishment?

[앵커]

Controversy continues over the police action that ended the case of ‘Taxi driver killing’ by Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu.

Since the precedents of similar cases in the past are mixed, opinions are divided that it is a simple assault and that aggravated punishment is necessary.

I am also interested in whether a re-investigation will take place.

Let’s find out more with the reporter. Reporter Ahn Yoon-hak!

First of all, let’s sort through the situation at the time of the assault!

[기자]

It was on the 6th of last month, when he was a lawyer, that Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu assaulted a taxi driver.

Around 11:30 pm, police report 112 was filed.

In front of an apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul, a drunk male passenger was awakened, and a taxi driver reported the assault damage, claiming that he had caught his fate.

Two police officers were dispatched.

At the time, Vice Minister Lee denied the crime.

There was no black box lighting the inside of the taxi.

The victim submitted a picture of her neck area, but the wound was not clear.

The evidence of the crime was not clear.

The police confirmed the identity of the Vice Minister, and did not arrest the current offender because it determined that further investigation was necessary.

[앵커]

The question is whether the police did not properly investigate and closed the internal affairs and made a’watch’.

[기자]

On the 8th, two days after the incident, before the police started a full-scale investigation.

The taxi driver calls the investigator in charge and agrees with the vice-minister, saying that he does not want punishment.

Actually, I even submitted an application for no punishment.

Accordingly, the assault was minor, there was no evidence, and the assault occurred while stopping, so it is not a’driver assault’ but a simple assault.

However, simple assault is a crime against intention, that is, if the victim does not want to be punished, there is no right to prosecute, so let’s just close the internal affairs.

This is where the controversy begins.

According to the 2015 Revised Specific Crimes Weighted Penalty Act, which regards assault on drivers as a felony crime, even when stopping for boarding and alighting, it is judged as an extension of the operation, and assault crimes are subject to increased punishment.

Whether the victim wants to be punished or not, it is pointed out not only in the legal community, but also inside the police, that the victim should be charged, investigated, and handed over to the prosecution.

Reporters called the frontline police officers, and 8-90% responded that they were not convinced that the Special Act was not applied.

[앵커]

That’s why suspicion of insolvency comes out.

In the midst of this, media reports came out yesterday that the taxi driver overturned the initial statement. Is it confirmed?

[기자]

The essence of the taxi driver’s initial statement was that when he was almost at the destination, Lee swears, grabbed his neck, and beat him.

If this is true, this loan was in service and is subject to the Special Act penalty.

However, after the taxi driver said that he had agreed with Vice Minister Lee, he changed his statement by expressing his intention to disapprove of punishment.

While waiting for the signal at the intersection, Vice Minister Lee misunderstood that he had arrived at his destination and opened the door, and when he restrained it, saying, “It has not arrived yet,” he spoke to himself.

It wasn’t when the car was moving, but when it arrived and stopped.

There were no black boxes, and the nearby CCTV did not clearly illuminate the inside of the taxi.

After all, only two people know the truth.

In response, the police said that the statements from both sides were mixed in the first place, and the victim’s statement was reversed, so there was no real profit to be gained by further investigation.

[앵커]

At least, isn’t it a fact that there was a gripping assault in a stopped car?

Isn’t it possible to punish only with this confirmed fact?

[기자]

In the first place, the reporters thought that if only the provisions of the Special Deals Act were found, this loan would be subject to punishment.

But in the actual trial, it was not.

In 2015, after the Special Act was revised to increase punishment of assault while stopping, the police and the prosecution applied similar cases to trial by applying the Special Act.

The court, however, also had a different idea.

Since the car has stopped, it cannot be considered running, there is no threat to surrounding safety,

Therefore, it is a simple assault, and it is innocent if there is no intention to punish the victim.

Yesterday, the police organized five cases like these and distributed them as explanatory materials to reporters.

Of course, there are cases where the special price law was applied.

Last year and this year, the courts sentenced to prison sentences for assault cases caused by fare disputes while stopping.

On a large scale, immediately after the revision of the Special Price Act in 2015, prosecutors and investigators had a willingness to punish severely to reflect the changed social atmosphere, but the court seems to have been conservative.

However, with the recent conviction coming out, the atmosphere in the courts also wants to change.

Some point out that the fact that the police ended the internal affairs without a dry mouth is a measure that reflects the trend of severe punishment for driver assault.

However, there is also an objection that the assault by Vice Minister Lee was milder than other cases convicted, and it was okay to terminate the internal affairs.

[앵커]

Is there any possibility to re-investigate this case?

[기자]

Closing the police investigation does not mean that the case is legally over.

Since the prosecution still has the power to investigate, the possibility of a re-investigation is always open unless the prosecution concludes that it is not accused.

Once a case has been dealt with, the principle of absurdity does not apply.

In fact, civic groups recently accused the loan, and the prosecution allocated the case to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

Some analyzes say whether re-investigation is inevitable.

Although there were only a few, there were voices within the police that they had to initiate their own re-investigation.

However, officially, we are watching the trend while maintaining the position that there is no problem with closing internal affairs.

YTN Yoonhak Ahn at the National Police Agency[[email protected]]is.

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