▲Lee Jae-myeong, representative of the Democratic Party of Korea, is preparing for the debate at the 3rd broadcasting debate for candidates for the 20th presidential election held on March 2nd by the National Election Commission. (yunhap news)
The court rejected an application for provisional injunction by members of the Rights Party to suspend the duties of Lee Jae-myeong, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted on suspicion of Daejang-dong.
According to the legal community on the 4th, the 51st Civil Settlement Division of the Seoul Southern District Court (Chief Judge Kim Woo-hyun) dismissed the application for temporary suspension of duties filed by 325 Democratic Party Rights Party members, including Baek Gwang-hyun, against CEO Lee on the 2nd.
The judge said, “It is difficult to see that there are urgent circumstances that require immediate exclusion from duties before the judgment on the merits.” revealed
On March 22, the prosecution indicted Lee without detention on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust in relation to the preferential development of Wirye and Daejang-dong and the suspicion of donations to Seongnam FC. The Democratic Party held a party affairs committee on the same day and decided to retain his party representative position.
Article 80, Section 1 of the Democratic Party Constitution stipulates that the secretary general may suspend his or her duties if an official is accused of corruption, such as bribery or illegal political funds.
However, an exception was made, saying, “If it is recognized that there is an unfair reason such as political oppression, it can be decided differently through the resolution of the Party Committee.” The party committee judged that the indictment of Lee fell under this category.
Baek and other members of the Democratic Party’s rights party filed an application for temporary suspension of duties and a lawsuit on the merits in the same month, saying that the prosecution of Lee was a personal crime, so the exception to ‘political oppression’ could not be applied. 325 members of the Rights Party participated in the application for provisional injunction, and 679 people participated in the main lawsuit.