Eight people, including People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won, who were fined over the 2019 "fast-track clash" at the National Assembly, appealed the first-trial verdict. Prosecutors gave up their appeal.
According to legal sources on the 28th, as of 12 a.m., the appeal deadline for the day, eight people—including lawmakers Na Kyung-won and Yoon Han-hong; former leader Hwang Kyo-ahn; Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo; and former lawmakers Kim Sung-tae, Kwak Sang-do, Kim Sun-dong, and Park Sung-joong—filed notices of appeal.
Earlier, the Criminal Agreement Division 11 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Jang Chan) on the afternoon of the 27th fined lawmaker Na a total of 24 million won on charges including charges of obstructing special official duties and violating the National Assembly Act. Of that, 20 million won was for charges of obstructing special official duties, and 4 million won was for violating the National Assembly Act.
Lawmakers lose their seats if they receive a sentence of imprisonment or heavier in ordinary criminal cases, or a fine of 5 million won or more in cases under the National Assembly Act. Not only lawmaker Na but all 26 People Power Party defendants who were fined—including six incumbent lawmakers—received fines of less than 5 million won for violating the National Assembly Act.
Na and other opposition figures who appealed say they will press to the end the justification of their actions at the time. In a Facebook post, Na said, "If the ruling stands, the path to block the Democratic Party's majority-rule dictatorship, a single-party dictatorship, will narrow further," adding, "I will seek judgment again." Accordingly, only the defendants who appealed will proceed to the appellate trial.
Earlier, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said on the afternoon of the 27th that, after in-depth review and discussion by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, it would not file appeals against any of the 26 defendants.
Prosecutors said, "The defendants' crimes are acts that obstruct legislative activity through violent and other unlawful means," but added, "We comprehensively considered that guilty verdicts were handed down across the conduct, that the motive for the crimes was not the pursuit of private gain, and that there appears to be a need to minimize a dispute that has dragged on for nearly six years since the date of the incident."
With prosecutors dropping their appeal, the six incumbents are confirmed to keep their seats. Under the Criminal Procedure Act's principle of prohibition of disadvantageous alteration, if prosecutors forgo appeal, a heavier sentence than at first instance cannot be imposed.
Whether prosecutors would appeal in the fast-track case drew major attention in tandem with the decision earlier this month to drop the appeal in the Daejang-dong development corruption case. Commissioners of The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee protested, saying, "Dropping the appeal violates the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's guidelines."