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| ▲ The Korean Women’s Political Network, G) Busan Sexual Violence Counseling Center, Busan Women’s Association Association, Busan Women’s Counseling Center, and Anti-Discrimination Femi Solidarity announced their position on the first instance of the sexual assault case, former Green Party co-operating committee chairman Shin Ji-ye, in front of the Busan District Court on the 22nd. have. | |
| Ⓒ Kim Bo-seong |
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The court sentenced a former Green Party official who was handed over to trial for sexual assault against Shin Ji-ye, the representative of the Korean Women’s Political Network (former Green Party co-operating committee chairman).
The 5th Criminal Division of the Busan District Court (Director Judge Ki-cheol Kwon) sentenced A, who was accused of being condemned for semi-rape, to three years and six months, and immediately arrested the court. It also ordered a 40-hour sexual violence treatment program to be completed and three years of child and youth-related employment restrictions. The judge saw that Mr. A’s crime was admitted and that there was a fear of running away. Quasi-rape punishment refers to raping and injuring an opponent by using a state of incapacity to protest.
Deputy Judge Kwon ruled in the ruling that “Although the perpetrator has admitted the facts and insisted that it is not an injury, the victim’s thighs and knees have bruises, and they can be treated several times and recognized as an injury.” The prosecution asked Mr. A to be sentenced to 7 years in prison, but the court said that the sentence was decided in consideration of the severity of the injury and Mr. A’s regret for the crime.
When the sentence for the first trial fell, Mr. A bowed his head, saying, “I’m sorry.” He said to the audience and the court, “It may be enough to repent, but I am sorry to the victim. I am sorry.”
Mr. A, who was an official of the Progressive Green Party, was tried in February last year for sexual assault against Shin. In the course of the 21st general election, Shin revealed that “Mr. A used the situation in the party to lure himself and rape him.” Afterwards, women’s organizations also collected petitions demanding severe punishment from the perpetrators and submitted them to the court.
Shin, who was admitted to the Green Party in 2012, attracted attention by running for local elections, proposing’feminist mayor of Seoul’. However, due to this incident, in the last general election, he left the Green Party and ran as an independent party. While publicizing the case, Shin has been criticizing that he is misleading as if the truth is uncertain even though the suspect admits it.
Women’s groups protested that the conviction was natural, but the sentence was low. The Korean Women’s Political Network, G) Busan Sexual Violence Counseling Center, Busan Women’s Association Coalition, Busan Women’s Counseling Center, and Anti-Discrimination Femi Solidarity, at a press conference in the Busan District Court immediately after the sentence, “compared to the pain inflicted on the victims, falsely only for commutation during the trial process. Considering that the prosecution took the second offense, the seven-year sentence for the prosecution is also weak.”
Ahn So-jung, secretary general of the Korean Women’s Political Network, expressed regret, saying, “Even though the intent and planning of the perpetrator were sufficient, this part was not properly reflected in the sentence.” Activist Kim Se-ul also argued, “It is a very political and special crime that abuses the situation of a few women who use politics as their business,” and that “we have to complete the trial until severe punishment.”