Former President Moon Jae-in filed a complaint against the prosecutors who investigated his bribery charges with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) for abuse of power and disclosure of fact.
The targets of the complaint are Lee Chang-soo, the former chief prosecutor of Jeonju, Park Young-jin, the former chief prosecutor of Jeonju, and the Jeonju prosecutors who were involved in the investigation.
On the same day, Moon Jae-in's legal team and the Democratic Party of Korea's political oppression response committee held a press conference in front of the CIO in Gyeonggi Province and stated, "The complaint filed by former President Moon against the prosecution is a legitimate exercise of the right to defense and a necessary procedure to reveal the truth before the public."
Earlier, the prosecution indicted former President Moon as an accomplice to bribery on the 24th in relation to allegations of preferential hiring for his son-in-law, Seo, who is 45 years old, at an airline. The prosecution determined that the approximately 217 million won provided to Seo under the guise of salary and housing expenses was the 'bribe' received by former President Moon, as he was hired preferentially despite having no relevant experience at the Thai airline, Thai StarJet, owned by former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Sang-jik.
The response committee remarked, "The investigation related to former President Moon's son-in-law was from the beginning a politically motivated inquiry aimed at harassing and humiliating former presidents and their families and associates, with a predetermined conclusion," adding, "The prosecution's goal was simply political oppression."
It continued, "Despite summoning dozens of people and conducting searches at numerous locations, the prosecution suddenly indicted former President Moon without ever hearing his side of the story." It further questioned, "How can such an abrupt indictment, lacking even the minimum procedural legitimacy, not be considered an abuse of prosecutorial power?"
The response committee emphasized, "We cannot overlook the prosecution's outrageous political oppression," and insisted, "Before the people and the judgment of history, the prosecution's brutal political retaliation and abuse of power must be revealed, and we urge the CIO to immediately initiate a swift and rigorous investigation."