Police are strictly controlling media access. Party officials strongly protested, stating that public power should not obstruct access to a political party.   Reporter Heo Gyeom  

The newly formed party, Freedom and Innovation, strongly protested the police's search and seizure of its headquarters on the 20th, calling it a "blatant political crackdown." 

The party specifically argued that the 106 items listed in the search and seizure warrant's "list of criminal acts" were essentially just a "list of evidence for fraudulent elections." They claimed that targeting a new opposition party while leaving the Central Election Commission, which should be the focus of the investigation, was fundamentally misguided police work.

In an official statement released after an emergency leadership meeting, Freedom and Innovation stated, "The 106 items in the search and seizure warrant are merely a list of evidence related to suspicions of fraudulent elections." They added, "If such evidence existed, the Central Election Commission should have been searched and seized. However, the police targeted the headquarters of a party that was only two days old. This itself reveals that the direction of the investigation is completely wrong."

The party further argued, "While investigating the case of preventing fraudulent election corruption, they raided the headquarters of Freedom and Innovation, which has no connection to former party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn, who has already resigned from his position." They likened it to "investigating a new tenant, B, who moved into the old house of A, while investigating A."

They continued, "A search and seizure occurred just two days after the party announced its establishment. What could possibly be taken? This is an unjust act and a political outrage that insults the public."

Claims of violation of constitutional rights were also raised. The party stated, "The Constitution guarantees the freedom to establish and operate political parties." They added, "The police forcibly entered and asked 'Who is a party member?' and touched female party officials. This is a clear violation of the constitution and human rights."

Freedom and Innovation has characterized this search and seizure as a "targeted investigation based on a political warrant." The party warned, "Those who requested the warrant, those who issued it, and those who executed it must all take responsibility, especially the judge who issued a political warrant bears significant responsibility." They continued, "Since the Moon Jae-in administration, search and seizure warrants have been abused. We will absolutely hold them accountable."

Furthermore, the party announced that it would proceed with criminal charges and complaints against the Commissioner of the National Police Agency and the Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for illegal search and seizure and violation of women's human rights. They also assessed the incident as a "self-inflicted wound that shows the regression of Korean democracy to the international community ahead of the Korea-U.S. summit," and demanded that President Lee Jae-myung "stop the illegal political crackdown on opposition parties."

#FreedomAndInnovation #SearchAndSeizure #FraudulentElections #HwangKyoahn #PoliticalCrackdown #ConstitutionalViolation #NationalElectionCommission #PartyDemocracy #HumanRightsViolation