Oh Se-hoon, the Mayor of Seoul, strongly criticized the Democratic Party's proposal to abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights and urged President Lee Jae-myung to exercise his veto power.
In a Facebook post on July 9, Oh stated, "What the public wants is a country where crimes are properly investigated, victims are protected, and no innocent person suffers. To abolish the supplementary investigation rights, which serve as a minimum safety net, is to threaten public safety."
Supplementary investigation rights allow prosecutors to request additional investigations from the police if they find deficiencies or need more evidence after reviewing case files. Oh described this authority as "the last verification mechanism to correct errors in police investigations and a minimum safety net to protect the public's rights."
He criticized the Democratic Party's push to abolish these rights under the guise of reducing prosecutorial power, stating, "The political slogan of prosecutorial reform cannot take precedence over the protection of the public's rights. The purpose of the criminal justice system is not a power struggle but to reveal the substantive truth and protect the public."
Oh referenced recent cases, including the murder of a high school girl in Gwangju and a bribery case involving a former mayor of Donghae, noting, "There have been instances where deficiencies in initial investigations were revealed through supplementary investigations by prosecutors. Since both police and prosecutors are human, mistakes and misjudgments can occur, making checks and re-verification mechanisms essential."
He expressed concern that if only non-binding requests remain, it could lead to a "legal ping-pong" where prosecutors and police shift responsibility to each other, allowing suspects to destroy evidence and buy time against investigations, ultimately harming the public.
Oh also criticized the Democratic Party for unilaterally introducing the amendment in the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee, stating, "The criminal justice system, which is directly related to the lives of the public, should not be hastily processed to fit a specific party's political agenda. Such legislative overreach is unlikely to gain public support."
He added, "If the bill is passed unilaterally in the National Assembly, the President, as the head of the executive branch, must actively consider his constitutional authority. A decision is needed to protect the public's fundamental rights and the criminal justice system."
Oh concluded, "Politics is not for the benefit of prosecutors or police, but for the people. There can be no political justification that supersedes public safety."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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