Whether former Korea Communications Commission Chairperson Lee Jin-sook, who was arrested by police, will be released will be decided as early as late afternoon. Lee's side said it was an "unlawful arrest" and filed for a court review of the legality of the arrest, and police are said to have canceled the scheduled third questioning accordingly.
According to the legal community on the 4th, the Seoul Southern District Court will hold a review of the legality of the arrest for the former Chairperson at 3 p.m. that day. The legality-of-arrest review is a system in which, if an investigative agency's arrest is deemed unjust, one can ask the court to consider release. The court reviews whether the suspect's arrest was lawful and whether continued detention is necessary. Because the day is a holiday, the on-duty judge will handle the review, and a conclusion will be reached within 24 hours.
The former Chairperson was arrested by police near her home around 4 p.m. on the 2nd. She had submitted a nonappearance statement citing the National Assembly filibuster (unlimited debate) schedule as a reason she could not be questioned, but applied for the review, saying she was unlawfully arrested despite that.
Defense attorney Lim Moo-young said, "If they had seen the nonappearance statement, there is no way a prosecutor would have requested, or a judge would have issued, an arrest warrant," and argued, "Police must have failed to attach the statement or submitted an exaggerated investigative report."
Police, on the other hand, say they executed a court-issued arrest warrant because the former Chairperson failed to comply with six appearance requests. They say appearance notices were sent by registered mail, phone, and fax, so it was not a last-minute notice on the summons date, and that there were no missing documents in the warrant application process.
Police were set to conduct a third questioning of the former Chairperson at 10 a.m. that day but are said to have canceled it. Lim said on social media, "I was told they canceled the questioning schedule because they could not reach me."
The arrest deadline for the former Chairperson is around 4 p.m. that day. For an arrested suspect, authorities must request a detention warrant within 48 hours or release the person. However, the time from when investigative documents and evidence are filed with the court for the review hearing until the materials are returned after the hearing ends is excluded from calculating the arrest deadline.
Yeongdeungpo Police Station submitted the documents needed for the review to the Southern District Court around 7 p.m. the previous day, so more than 20 hours will remain on the arrest clock once the review ends. If the court rules in favor of the former Chairperson, she will be released immediately, but if it finds the arrest justified, police are expected to promptly consider applying for a detention warrant.
The former Chairperson is accused of making politically biased remarks or engaging in pre-campaign activities through conservative-leaning YouTube channels and her Facebook account between September and October last year and March and April this year (violations of the Public Official Election Act and the National Public Officials Act). While acknowledging the facts, Lee's side says it was merely an appeal to normalize the Korea Communications Commission, which was inoperable under a two-member system, and that she did not breach political neutrality or engage in campaigning.