Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of 'Freedom and Innovation,' filed a complaint against Judge Lee Jin-kwan and others with the U.S. Department of State and Treasury. [Photo: Yonhap News]

Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of 'Freedom and Innovation,' filed a complaint against Judge Lee Jin-kwan and others with the U.S. Department of State and Treasury.

On the 25th, Hwang and the Freedom and Innovation Party announced that they had filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of State and Treasury against three judges: Lee Jin-kwan, the presiding judge at the Seoul Central District Court who sentenced former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison and ordered his immediate detention, along with associate judges Yoon Yi-hwan and Lee Jae-jun.

The complainants strongly requested that the U.S. deny visas and ban entry to the respondents, freeze their assets in the U.S., and prohibit transactions with them through this complaint.

"Abuse of Judicial Procedures Violates Human Rights"… Application of the Global Magnitsky Act

In their complaint, Leader Hwang Kyo-ahn and 'Freedom and Innovation' characterized the ruling as "an abuse of judicial power that cooperated with the political purge of the pro-China leftist Lee Jae-myung administration."

The basis for the complaint against these judges is Executive Order 13818 of the United States, the 'Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.' This act empowers the U.S. government to impose sanctions on foreign government officials involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption.

The complainants argued that the respondents violated due process by: △breaching the principle of presumed innocence, △imposing an excessive sentence of 23 years, significantly exceeding the prosecution's request of 15 years, and △issuing a coercive detention order against the lawyer.

"Ignoring Evidence of Election Irregularities… A Political Verdict Endorsing a 'Fake National Assembly'"

In particular, Hwang's side emphasized that the trial ignored the fundamental issue of 'election irregularities.'

According to the complaint, the current National Assembly includes many 'fake lawmakers' who were elected through election irregularities, and the judiciary has been reduced to a political tool of the administration established through the impeachment and presidential election led by these individuals.

Furthermore, they criticized the court's complete disregard for the evidence of election irregularities submitted by the legal team of former Prime Minister Han, stating that this action denies the people's legitimate right to resist and undermines the foundation of democracy.

Leader Hwang stated, "Within South Korea, the entire judiciary has succumbed to political pressure, making it difficult to expect self-correction, thus necessitating international intervention."

He added, "The imposition of an extreme penalty on former Prime Minister Han, who has pro-American tendencies, is a grave matter that ultimately weakens the ROK-U.S. alliance and impacts U.S. national security."

The complainants expect that sanctions against the respondents will contribute to the restoration of the rule of law in South Korea and the strengthening of judicial independence.

This complaint is an expression of Leader Hwang's strong will to put the South Korean judiciary's judgments on trial according to international human rights and rule of law standards, and attention is focused on how the U.S. government will respond to the request for sanctions against current South Korean judges.

Meanwhile, the legal basis for this complaint presented by Hwang's side is as follows:

1. Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act

This act prescribes sanctions against "persons responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses or corruption," and specifically, Section 1(a)(ii) designates as targets for sanctions "foreign government officials who are responsible for serious human rights abuses, including the deprivation or limitation of an individual's liberty through the abuse of judicial procedures."

2. Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act

This provision mandates the denial of entry for foreign government officials directly responsible for serious human rights abuses.

Reporter Im Yo-hee