'Sentenced to Fines' Representative Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party faces reporters. Yonhap News

The prosecution has decided not to appeal the case of People Power Party officials who received fines for the 'Fast-Track Collision at the National Assembly' incident.

This decision came with approximately seven hours remaining before the deadline, amidst intense public interest following the prosecution's decision to drop the appeal in the 'Daejang-dong case'.

All six incumbent lawmakers who received fines have secured their positions. However, a significant number of defendants have appealed, leading the trials to proceed to a second instance.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced on the 27th at 4:25 PM that, after in-depth review and discussion by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, no appeal would be filed against any of the 26 defendants.

The prosecution stated, "The defendants' actions, which obstructed legislative activities through illegal means such as violence, are difficult to justify, and their culpability was not minor." They added, "It is regrettable that the sentences imposed on some defendants did not meet the standards compared to the requested sentences."

However, they explained, "We decided not to file an appeal after comprehensively considering that guilt was established for the overall offenses, the motives for the crimes were not for the pursuit of private gain, and the need to minimize the protracted dispute that has lasted for nearly six years since the incident occurred."

The court had imposed fines on all 26 defendants from the People Power Party on the 20th. While the fines were considerable, with Representative Na Kyung-won receiving a total of 24 million won (20 million won for obstruction of official duties by force and 4 million won for violation of the National Assembly Act) and Floor Leader Song Eon-seok receiving a total of 11.5 million won (10 million won and 1.5 million won), none of the defendants exceeded 5 million won for the violation of the National Assembly Act, which would result in the loss of their parliamentary seats.

With the prosecution's decision to forgo appeals, the six incumbent lawmakers and two local government heads will retain their positions. According to the principle of 'prohibition of unfavorable modification' in the Criminal Procedure Act, the prosecution cannot impose a heavier sentence than the first instance if they drop the appeal.

However, as of midnight today, the deadline for appeals, the court stated that eight individuals, including Representatives Na Kyung-won and Yoon Han-hong, former leader Hwang Kyo-ahn, Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo, and former representatives Kim Sung-tae, Kwak Sang-do, Kim Seon-dong, and Park Sung-jung, had submitted their appeal documents.

The defendants who have appealed intend to argue for the justification of their actions to the end. Representative Na stated on Facebook that the ruling "gives a free pass to the Democratic Party's majority-rule dictatorship and parliamentary rampage," and declared, "I will seek a re-evaluation."

Consequently, a second trial will proceed solely for the defendants who have appealed.

 A physical confrontation between ruling and opposition parties in front of a National Assembly meeting room where the Special Committee for Judicial Reform was held on April 26, 2019. Yonhap News

The prosecution's decision on whether to appeal the fast-track case garnered significant attention following the prosecution's decision to drop the appeal in the Daejang-dong development corruption case earlier this month.

The People Power Party had criticized the decision to drop the appeal in the Daejang-dong case, which is linked to President Lee Jae-myung, and had been sharply scrutinizing this current case. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party urged the prosecution to appeal, calling the sentence a 'slap on the wrist'.

On this day, members of the Democratic Party's Legislation and Judiciary Committee also expressed their opposition, stating, "The decision to drop the appeal violates the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulations."

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulations, appeals are to be filed in cases where ▲ the type of sentence (life imprisonment, imprisonment, fine) has changed, or ▲ the type of sentence is the same but the imposed sentence is less than half of the requested sentence.

Previously, the prosecution had requested prison sentences for incumbent lawmakers, including Representative Na (2 years imprisonment) and Floor Leader Song (10 months imprisonment), except for Representative Lee Chul-gyu.

Yonhap News