[오병상의 코멘터리] The police who covered Lee Yong-gu… I need a supervisor.

Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu attends a vice minister’s meeting held at the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 21st. The prosecution, who is investigating the suspicion of Lee’s assault by a taxi driver, is known to have recently restored a 30-second video from a taxi driver A’s mobile phone showing the scene where Lee grabs A’s neck.

One.
The state power that ordinary people encounter in their daily lives is usually the police.
But when I watched the assault of a taxi driver by Deputy Attorney General Yong-gu Lee,’Can I trust the police?’
Moreover, from this year, the police are becoming more powerful…
Anxiety and anxiety increase.

2.
It was announced on the 20th that the prosecution, under re-investigation, secured the black box video at the time.
The content confirms the police lie.
About the black box video, the police said’nothing’.
The taxi transmission in the video is’D (operation)’. At the time of the incident, the police said that the taxi was’P (parked)’.

3.
As the video was confirmed… it became more apparent that the police’closed the internal affairs’ case was wrong.
The reason that the police crushed the case was,’Because it was an incident while the taxi was stopped, we did not apply the specific crime weighted punishment law (special price law/driver assault).’
It is a force in itself. It is because’the special law applies even if the driver is assaulted while stopping to get on and off passengers’.
Is it because I don’t know. no. When the police box reported to the police station, it was said to be’subject to special treatment law’. We got together at the police station.

4.
What kind of external pressure worked… The police applied the charge of’simple assault’ instead of the special price law.
The legal consequences are completely different.
In the case of simple assault…
If the victim agrees and says that he does not want punishment, he will not be punished according to the’anti-objection punishment’ (if the victim does not want it, the perpetrator is not punished). Closed internal affairs… nothing happened.

5.
If the special price law was applied…
The punishment (imprisonment for not more than 5 years, fine of 20 million won or less) is also heavy, but even if the victim says that he does not want to be punished, he must be arrested and investigated. It is reported to the prosecution. The police cannot cover it.
If the special price law was applied, the Yonggu case would have no choice but to be known to the world.

6.
The problem is that from this year, the power of the police will become stronger.
Until now, the police have reported everything related to the investigation to the prosecution and acted upon instructions. The prosecution had the right to investigate.
As a result of the Moon Jae-in administration’s reform of the prosecution, the police took over the right to investigate. Whether investigating or not, the police decide on their own.

7.
Power, especially the power of criminal justice agencies, is directly related to the basic rights of the people.
If power is abused, the basic rights of the people are directly violated. That is why distribution of power, and checks and surveillance are essential.
By the way, the purpose of dividing the power of the prosecutors by saying that they were reforming the prosecution was good. However, there is almost no check and surveillance of the police.

8.
I am concerned about the police republic, which is far worse than the prosecution republic.
It was revealed in the Yong-gu case. Police are less specialized than prosecutors. Political independence also declines. Morality also declines.
But the power is stronger.

9.
Even now, we need to hurry to strengthen the supervisory control system for police surveillance.
There are already such devices. This is the police commission.
The Police Commission was created in 1991 as the top police agency. It is the product of the Park Jong-cheol torture case and the continued democratization efforts.
But for the past 30 years, it has been unfamiliar.
The Blue House ignored the police committee and wielded the police force at will through the chief of the police.

10.
The police committee should be made into a police surveillance and supervision body.
It’s that simple. You can choose a chairman well.
Set up a neutral nomination committee, go through a parliamentary hearing, and guarantee a term.

11.
The President, who is currently the beneficial owner of the police power, must empty his mind.
Only then will the police become a’people’s staff’ from’the loyalty of power’.

2021.01.21.

Commentary by Byeongsang Oh