A former head of the criminal division at Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju, accused of downscaling and covering up the initial investigation into the murder of high school student Jang Yun-gi, avoided arrest.
Choi Yun-young, the warrant judge in charge at the Gwangju District Court, rejected a pretrial detention warrant for Superintendent A of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency on July 21 after holding a pre-arrest suspect questioning (substantive warrant review) on charges of abuse of authority to interfere with the exercise of rights and dereliction of duty.
Director General Judge Choi said, "The suspect has a fixed residence, and key evidence has already been secured, so it is hard to see a risk of destroying evidence or flight," adding, "There is room for dispute over some facts and legal assessment, and it is necessary to guarantee the suspect's right to defense," explaining the reason for denial.
Superintendent A is accused of exerting improper influence on the frontline investigative team during the Jang Yun-gi case in May to apply the charge of "ordinary murder" instead of "rape, etc., murder," which carries a minimum sentence of life imprisonment, and of poorly directing the investigation by separating sexual assault and stalking cases that occurred before the crime from the main case and handing them to another department.
Superintendent A's side, however, fully denied the allegations during the substantive warrant review, saying there were "no improper instructions whatsoever not to apply the charge of rape, etc., murder or to investigate it as ordinary murder." Frontline officers who took part in the investigation at the time were also reported to have said it was an investigation conducted under the direction of the National Office of Investigation (NOI).
A special investigation team of the National Office of Investigation (NOI) and the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office on the morning of the 21st simultaneously searched and seized departments related to the National Office of Investigation as they continue to probe alleged misconduct in the Jang Yun-gi case investigation. The special team plans to analyze the reasons for the warrant denial and then decide whether to reapply for a detention warrant and set the course for the investigation.