A malicious commenter who continued baseless slander and threats against singer and actor IU was sentenced to a suspended prison term by a court.
According to the legal community on the 10th, Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 Judge Jang Seong-jin Director General handed A, who was tried on charges of defamation, insult and violation of the Stalking Punishment Act, a 10-month prison term with a two-year suspension and ordered probation.
A was investigated for posting 29 false posts on his blog from May to July last year such as "IU must be a spy" and "Chinese spy IU." Delusional-seeming slanders followed, including that "her private life is promiscuous," "she belongs to a criminal organization," and "she committed murder."
When IU's agency Edam Entertainment filed a complaint, he escalated anxiety by sending threatening messages such as "I'll kill you" and "you won't live peacefully" to the company's email. The court said the defendant repeatedly spread false information in spaces viewed by many people and caused extreme fear to the victim through threats, judging that the nature of the crime was by no means light.
However, the court took into account that A had been diagnosed with a mental illness and treated since high school and that the defendant's prior similar offense resulted only in one fine. Nonetheless, the court pointed out that no settlement with the victim had been reached.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have appealed, saying the first-instance sentence was light.
In March, IU expressed discomfort directly about the absurd rumors on a YouTube broadcast, saying "There are too many people who forcefully try to criticize, called 'eokka.' There were even claims that I'm not Korean."
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]