Cha Gyu-geun, head of the Immigration and Foreign Policy Headquarters of the Ministry of Justice, one of the key figures in the case of’Kim Hak-eui’s alleged prohibition of illegal departure from the Ministry of Justice’, responds to reporters’ questions while attending an interrogation before arrest held at the Suwon District Law on the morning of the 5th. His arrest warrant was dismissed at the court early the next morning. News 1
In relation to the case of’Kim Hak’s illegal departure (withdrawal) suspicion’, a preliminary arrest warrant requested by the prosecution against Cha Gyu-geun, head of the Immigration and Foreigners Policy Headquarters of the Ministry of Justice, was dismissed at the court on the 6th. Cha is the person in charge who ordered the departure inquiry two years ago from Kim Hak-eui (65), former Vice Minister of Justice, and approved the emergency withdrawal. As the prosecution’s warrant, which was the first subject of judicial treatment by applying the charges of abuse of authority, was dismissed, the investigation of this case, which had been undertaken by a swift battle, was put to a sudden stop.
Suwon District Court Justice Oh Dae-seok, who was in charge of warrant, dismissed his arrest warrant, saying, “It is difficult to admit the necessity of redemption” around 2 am on the previous day after conducting an interrogation of the suspect prior to arrest (substantial warrant examination) of the head of the Cha headquarters the day before. Judge Oh said, “Considering the necessity of complying with strict due process, the matter is not light, but it is difficult to judge that there is fear of destruction of evidence or fear of escape in light of the evidence collected during the investigation and the attitude of the suspect in the investigation.”
Director Cha is under suspicion of obstructing the exercise of ex officio abuse rights, creating and exercising false official documents, and withdrawing from work. On March 19-22, 2019, he received reports of personal information inquiries including the name, date of birth, and immigration information, etc., on 177 times through officials in the Immigration Division of the Ministry of Justice. In this regard, the prosecution applied a crime to obstruct the exercise of ex officio abuse rights, seeing that the officials in question had done’no duty’ under the direction of the head of the headquarters. In addition, on the morning of March 23 of the same year, the charges of approval after the fact of the illegality of the emergency withdrawal measures taken by former Vice Minister Kim’s emergency withdrawal measures taken by the prosecutor Gyu-won Lee at the time of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office were also included.
Earlier, when an arrest warrant was filed on the 2nd, Cha headquarters requested that the prosecution’s investigation be improper and stopped the investigation, and applied for a convocation of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Prosecutors’ Office. While attending the warrant examination the day before, he told reporters, “(Withdrawal from former Vice Minister Kim) was not illegal. Former Vice Minister Kim was trying to escape overseas by secretly using automatic immigration late at night,” he said, arguing the justification of the withdrawal measures at the time. “I would like to ask the people if it is right if I, who was the head of the immigration headquarters in charge of border management at the time, had to take no action and let (Former Vice Minister Kim) flee overseas.”
Joonki Jeong reporter [email protected]
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