S.Korean court postpones President Lee's trial, citing constitutional immunity
A high court in South Korea has said it will postpone the retrial of President Lee Jae-myung on charges of violating election law.
Local media have reported that it is very unlikely the retrial will go ahead while Lee remains in power.
South Korea's Supreme Court ruled in May, before Lee's victory, that he had violated election law by making false statements during his failed 2022 presidential bid. It sent the case back to the Seoul High Court after overturning an earlier ruling clearing him.
The high court announced on Monday it will indefinitely postpone the first hearing, which was scheduled for June 18.
The court said the move was based on the Constitution, which basically exempts sitting presidents from criminal prosecution.
Legal experts are divided over whether a sitting president's immunity extends to trials already underway. Neither the Constitution nor the law address the matter.
But South Korean media have reported the high court appears to have decided to shield Lee from standing trial during his term.
Lee is facing other criminal trials that some say put him at judicial risk. The ruling Democratic Party is reportedly pushing for legal revisions that halt trials while Lee is in office.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
7 hours ago
- NHK
June 9 NEWSROOM TOKYO Bangkok Live
Lineup: 1. Thailand, Cambodia dial down tensions after clash 2. An uneasy peace in Kashmir, one month on 3. Trump tariffs pose challenges to Southeast Asian farmers
NHK
7 hours ago
- NHK
Crunch time for China's university hopefuls
Millions of university hopefuls take their entrance exams across China. Economic woes and political rifts raise the stakes even higher.
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Japan Times
Ohkawara president asks Tokyo police not to appeal damages suit ruling
The president of Japanese spray-dryer maker Ohkawara Kakohki on Monday asked the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department not to appeal a recent ruling by the Tokyo High Court that found the police's investigations into the company illegal and ordered the payment of damages. The 76-year-old president, Masaaki Okawara, visited the police headquarters in central Tokyo, handing in documents requesting that the truth about the false accusations be revealed and that the police officers involved in the investigation be punished strictly. Okawara was arrested by the Tokyo police's Public Security Bureau in 2020, along with two others of the Yokohama-based company, for allegedly exporting without permission a spray dryer that could be repurposed for weapons production, in violation of the foreign exchange law. The three were indicted later that year, but the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office withdrew the indictments the following year, saying that doubts had arisen about whether the spray-dryer in question was among the products subject to export controls. Also on Monday, Okawara submitted to the Tokyo police some 41,400 online signatures collected since May 29, the day after the high court ruling was handed down, calling for the ruling not be appealed. According to informed sources, the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments are not planning to appeal the ruling. The deadline for filing an appeal is Wednesday. The 51-year-old eldest son of Shizuo Aishima, a former adviser to Ohkawara Kakohki who died at the age of 72 after being found to have stomach cancer while being detained, told reporters, "The number of online signatures reflects the public's sense of crisis regarding the criminal justice system as a whole." "I want the Tokyo police and the public prosecutor's office to take this seriously and formulate measures to prevent a recurrence that we can accept," he said.
