Whether the bribery case against former President Moon Jae-in will be tried as a citizen participatory trial with jurors is expected to be decided around March.
The Criminal Agreement Division 21 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Hyun-bok, senior judge) said on the 13th at the fourth pretrial hearing in the bribery case of the former president and former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, "After completing the evidence screening process outside the courtroom, we will decide whether to hold a participatory trial." The court plans to receive final opinions from prosecutors and the defense on evidence screening by the end of February, decide on a participatory trial, and set dates in early to mid-March.
The court explained, "If we hold a participatory trial, we will continue with a preparatory date for that; if we proceed as a regular trial, a preparatory date will be set to finalize the evidence examination schedule along with a decision excluding a participatory trial." Earlier, the former president's side applied for a citizen participatory trial at the first preparatory hearing in June last year.
Prosecutors expressed conditional acceptance. They said they would accept a citizen participatory trial if the defense agrees to a substantial portion of statements from the investigation stage so that the number of witnesses can be narrowly specified. The court said it is currently conducting the evidence screening process and will decide on a participatory trial after examining whether the evidence screening applications comply with the revised Criminal Procedure Rules. Under the revised rules, prosecutors or defendants must select and apply only the evidence necessary to prove their case, and the court may dismiss evidence applications that violate this or unduly delay the trial.
Prosecutors said about 200 million won in salary and housing costs received by Seo, who was formerly the former president's son-in-law, from the airline Thai Eastar Jet constituted a bribe to the former president, and in April last year indicted the former president and the former lawmaker on bribery charges.
Thai Eastar Jet is the overseas corporate entity of Eastar Jet Co., effectively owned by the former lawmaker, who served as chair of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) during the Moon Jae-in administration. Prosecutors say the former president colluded with his daughter Da-hye and Seo to have Seo hired as an executive, and as a result the former president stopped providing living expenses to the couple, thereby gaining economic benefit to that extent.
The former president's side said, "Prosecutors engaged in a 'truck indictment,' writing several times more unrelated facts in the indictment and indiscriminately submitting irrelevant evidence," and argued that a substantial portion of the prosecution's evidence should be dismissed.
In particular, they said the indictment includes as basic facts the nomination to chair of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) and alleged improper support, along with a mass application for related evidence, adding, "It is prejudicing the case as if state affairs were run with improper intent." They continued, "This is a representative case of prosecutorial abuse of power that, under the name of a criminal trial, implants prejudice in the judge and forces evidence examination unrelated to the charges, inflicting institutional torture on the defendant."
The former lawmaker also said, "I was neither CEO nor chair, so why indict me for breach of trust in business because Thai Eastar Jet paid a salary?" and argued, "The indictment itself is nonsense," asking that irrelevant evidence be dismissed during the evidence screening process.
The court explained, "The indictment does not contain only specific criminal acts but also the overall circumstantial facts used to judge intent," adding, "Circumstantial facts do not go into the indictment but are matters judged in the reasons for the verdict." It added, "A considerable portion has been transferred to the indictment text, making evidence screening necessary, and in that process it is not easy to distinguish the merits."
Because defendants are not required to appear at pretrial hearings, the former president did not appear in court that day.
A citizen participatory trial is a trial in which citizens participate as jurors in a criminal case. Citizens serving as jurors take part in the trial and present a verdict on guilt or innocence and an opinion on sentencing, and the court refers to this in handing down its judgment.