Special Prosecutor of the National Election Commission, “There is no ‘coercive investigation’ in the will”… Defense lawyer "excluded from prosecutor's duties" (comprehensive)

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeong Yun-ju = The National Election Commission's special prosecutor team Lee Tae-han announced on the 23rd that there was no content related to coercive investigation in the suicide note of the National Election Commission employee who was found dead after being investigated as a suspect.

The special prosecutor's team stated in a media notice that day, "We verified the deceased's will through procedures to prevent unnecessary controversy," and added, "We could not find any information in the will that there was any coercive investigation during the investigation."

Rather, the special prosecution team explained that there was content that said they did not blame the special prosecutor of the National Election Commission and pointed out problems in the organization of the National Election Commission.

The lawyer of the deceased National Election Commission employee raised suspicions that there were elements of human rights violations, such as pressure and coercion, during the special investigation team's investigation, sparking controversy over the coercive investigation. It is understood that he has repeatedly refuted the case by disclosing some of the contents of his will.

However, he lowered his stance, saying, "I repeatedly express my deep condolences to the National Election Commission employee who passed away and pray for his soul to rest in peace."

Earlier, on the morning of the 21st, a 40-year-old employee of the National Election Commission was found dead in his apartment.

The day before his death, the deceased appeared before the special prosecutor's team and was investigated for a long time as a suspect on charges of breach of trust and obstruction of bidding related to suspicions of corruption in the bidding for election supplies.

The lawyer who attended the investigation at the time raised suspicions of coerced investigation, saying that the deceased was pressured and coerced by the investigation team during the investigation, and the special prosecutor's team dismissed the defense's claim, saying there was no coercive atmosphere at all.

When the special prosecution team even revealed the will, the defense increased its response by demanding that the prosecutor in charge of investigating the suspect be excluded from his duties.

Dodam Law Firm announced on this day that it had submitted an official document to the Special Prosecutor of the National Election Commission requesting that the prosecutor in question be excluded from his duties and the dispatch of the special prosecutor team be lifted.

In his statement, Dodam said, "The deceased was investigated for a long time at the prosecutor's office on the 20th, and although it was a voluntary investigation, the request to end the investigation was not accepted," adding, "During the investigation, there was a coercive investigation and coercion to make statements."

In particular, referring to the special prosecutor's team's act of disclosing the will, he pointed out, "They used the deceased's will, acquired for the purpose of investigation, to explain themselves," and "disclosed the purpose in a distorted manner, excluding the overall context, and did not even seek the consent of the bereaved family in the process."

At the same time, he urged, “The special prosecution team should not cover up the problem by simply explaining that there was no coercive investigation, but should thoroughly investigate the truth and take responsible action against those involved.”

The Min Joong-ki Special Prosecutor's Team, which previously investigated suspicions related to First Lady Kim Kun-hee, also sparked controversy over the coercive investigation after a Yangpyeong-gun official who was being investigated in connection with suspicions of preferential treatment for changing the terminus of the Yangpyeong Expressway committed suicide.

At the time, the special prosecutor's team explained that there were no human rights violations during the investigation, but after the inspection, they eventually took steps to exclude the three investigators involved in the investigation from work and release them from their dispatch.

The National Election Commission's special investigation team is expanding its investigation into allegations of bidding corruption by looking into the National Election Commission's overall service contracts for election supplies, including early voting boxes and polling place notices during last year's presidential election and this year's June 3 local elections.

The special prosecutor's team said, "We are conducting an investigation based on objective data such as (the deceased's) work log, which already contains various details, and will continue to do our best to uncover corruption such as the National Election Commission's collusion with companies and preferential treatment in contracts, and clearly reveal who is responsible."