Lee Jae-yong suspected of taking propofol… The late Investigation Deliberation Committee “Stop the investigation”

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is accused of illegal propofol administration, expressed the opinion that it is reasonable to stop the investigation by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s Investigation Review Committee, which is composed of external experts. As for whether or not to prosecute, the members of the committee agreed to agree and disagree. As the Investigation Deliberation Committee approves the bill with a majority of the attending members, there is an analysis that the prosecution was also effectively rejected. As outside experts came up with the judgment that the prosecution’s investigation was unreasonable, the grounds for pushing the investigation and prosecution were shaken.

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said at a meeting of the Prosecutors’ Investigation Deliberation Committee on the 26th that the opinion to stop the investigation against Lee was finalized. On that day, the agenda referred to the Investigation Deliberation Committee was whether to continue the investigation and whether to file a prosecution on the charges of illegal administration of Propofol by Vice Chairman Lee. The investigation deliberation committee was held privately from 3 pm to 7 pm. Since the parties are not obligated to attend, Vice-Chairman Lee, who had an appendicitis surgery last week, did not attend.

After the meeting, an official from the Investigation Deliberation Committee said, “In the deliberation process, the investigation team and the applicant’s representatives submitted and stated their opinions, and then the members discussed and deliberated.” It was counted,” he said.

According to Article 15 of the Investigation Deliberation Committee’s operating guidelines, the Investigation Deliberation Committee deliberates and decides on agenda with the approval of a majority of the attending members. Excluding one member who was evaded on this day, there were a total of 14 members who attended the Investigation Deliberation Committee and participated in the ballot, and more than half of them, 8 people, supported the suspension of the investigation, and the agenda for continuing the investigation was rejected.

Regarding whether the prosecution was prosecuted, 7 people each confronted the pros and cons. In this regard, Vice Chairman Lee said, “As the subject of the Investigation Deliberation Committee’s deliberation was’Continue Investigation’ and’Prosecution’, the agenda of’Continue Investigation’, in which a majority of objections were expressed, was rejected, and the prosecution was also rejected because the majority did not get a majority. “I will do it.”

Regarding the results of the Investigation Deliberation Committee on the day, the prosecution said, “We plan to review the final disposition by combining the results of the investigation so far and the opinions of the Investigation Deliberation Committee.”

This is the second time an investigation deliberation committee has been held in connection with Vice Chairman Lee. In June of last year, the Investigation Review Committee was held to determine whether the prosecution’s investigation and prosecution of Lee’s unfair merger of Samsung Group and allegations of accounting corruption were valid, and the investigation was suspended and non-prosecution was decided.

In 2017, Vice Chairman Lee has been under investigation by the prosecution for consistently illegal administration of Propofol at a plastic surgery clinic in Gangnam, Seoul. Vice-Chairman Lee said, “I was treated according to the doctor’s professional opinion in a hospital in the past,” and said, “Since then, because of personal circumstances, I inevitably received visit treatment, but the suspicion of illegal medication is not true at all.”

In January, Vice-Chairman Lee applied for a convocation of the Investigation Deliberation Committee saying, “Please consider whether the investigation and prosecution are valid,” and the Prosecutors’ Citizen’s Committee accepted Lee’s request and decided to open the Investigation Review Committee. The Investigation Review Committee is a system in which external experts such as legal and academic circles gather to discuss the adequacy of the investigation and whether to prosecute the case, and then recommend the results to the prosecution.

Although the Investigation Review Committee recommended that the investigation be halted, there is a possibility that the prosecution will force the investigation and prosecution. This is because the conclusion of the Investigation Deliberation Committee does not have a compelling force on the prosecution’s investigation team. The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office’s regulations state only that the prosecution respects the recommendations of the Investigation Deliberation Committee. In September of last year, the Investigation Review Committee recommended the suspension of the investigation and non-prosecution of the suspected Samsung fraudulent accounting case, but the prosecution enforced the prosecution.

[홍혜진 기자]
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