The investigation of the assault case of a taxi driver by Vice Minister Lee Yong-gu of the Ministry of Justice is expanding to police abandonment of duties. At that time, the existence of a black box video containing the assault scene appeared on the surface again. About a month ago, the police said that “there was no black box video”, but on the 23rd, the police changed their position saying, “There are some facts that have confirmed the video,” and initiated a truth investigation.
The reason the investigation situation has returned to a month ago is due to the statement of the victim, taxi driver A. He insisted in media interviews, “I showed an assault video, but the investigator in charge replied,’I will do what I haven’t seen.”
The black box model used by taxi driver A. Reporter Garam Lee
“I couldn’t see the black box video on the day of the incident (November 6 of last year).”
In summary, the JoongAng Ilbo report shows that the first reason the incident looks confusing is that the black box video in question existed as two’versions’. According to the police, the black box video in the taxi could not be restored between the night of November 6th and the dawn of the 7th of last year, when the incident occurred. The police explained, “At the time, the black box memory was 0 gigabytes (0 GB).” The black box used by Mr. A was a model in which the storage space was displayed as ‘0GB’ unless a separate viewer was installed.
Taxi driver restores black box, photographed with mobile phone
A, who returned home after being investigated by the police, recovered the video at a black box company in Yongdap-dong after visiting a black box repair company in Dongdaemun-gu and Seongdong-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 7th. The company had to shoot with Mr. A’s smartphone, fearing that the black box video would be erased again. The black box video remained on the taxi driver’s smartphone. It is reported that the video that the prosecution recently restored was from a smartphone, not a black box.
“I don’t want punishment.”
Mr. A did not mention the existence of the video on November 8-11 last year when he was first investigated by the police. This period was around the time he agreed with Vice Minister Lee and filed an application for no punishment. According to the police, Mr. A stated in the investigation on November 8 that “there is no black box video” and “does not want punishment.”
On the 25th, Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu is leaving the Ministry of Justice in the Gwacheon government office of Gwacheon City, Gyeonggi Province. News 1
Taxi driver show the video of the smartphone to the police
Mr. A said he showed the restored 30-second video to the detective he met on November 11 last year. The detective said, “The car is stopped. I will do what I haven’t seen.” This is presumed to be because it was judged as violence while the vehicle was already stopped, and was not subject to punishment under the Special Act (assault while driving). The next day, the assault case of Vice Minister Lee was applied as a simple assault, and the internal affairs were ended in response to an anti-intentional punishment. After that, Mr. A said he deleted the video from his smartphone. The details of why he showed the video to the police remains a question.
Police, “a regretful heart”
The police, who were criticized for failing to secure a black box, said that they “regret”. On the 25th, the head of the National Investigation Headquarters, Chief of the Investigation Bureau Choi Seung-ryul, said, “At the end of last year, I explained to the media about the incident. However, Director Choi said, “You have to investigate whether it is a false report or not. Depending on the results of the fact-finding, an investigator may become a suspect or suspect.” In a call with the JoongAng Ilbo, an official of the police claimed that “other than the detective in charge, the team leader, manager, and chief, did not know the existence of the black box.”
The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office 5th Criminal Division (Director Dong-Eon Lee) is re-investigating the allegations of assault by Vice Minister Lee on the 28th of last month after being accused by civic groups. The investigation team of the Seocho Police Station is investigating whether there is a suspicion of abandonment.
Reporters Kyung-Hyun Kyung-Hyun and Yeon-Soo Choi [email protected]