People Power Party Rep. Joo Ho-young begins filibustering an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on July 30.NEWS1
As the ruling Democratic Party (DP) pushed a bill at a parliamentary plenary meeting on Thursday that would strip prosecutors of their direct investigative powers, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) launched a filibuster to block it.
The PPP began the filibuster after an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act reached the DP-controlled National Assembly’s plenary session. The parliament can still pass the bill on Friday after the chamber votes to end the filibuster.
The PPP had raised concerns that the amendment would not only weaken the prosecution service but also allow prosecutors to drop charges against President Lee Jae Myung, as the bill includes provisions that add new reasons for dismissing indictments.
Under the amendment, prosecutors would no longer be allowed to conduct supplementary investigations but would only be able to request that police carry out additional investigative work. Police would then have to complete the supplementary investigations within two months of receiving a prosecutor’s request.
The amendment also includes provisions that add reasons for dismissing indictments, including cases where prosecutors bring charges based on serious illegal investigations and cases where they abuse their power in deciding whether to prosecute.
The provisions can allow prosecutors to drop charges against Lee, who is facing five criminal trials that were suspended shortly after he took office in June of last year.
“The revised provisions on dismissing indictments will apply equally to all defendants currently on trial,” DP Rep. Kim Seung-won said as he introduced the bill. “The political claim that this is a rushed revision designed for a specific individual is simply not true.”
The PPP began the filibuster at 4:05 p.m., with PPP Rep. Joo Ho-young delivering opening remarks.
“If the National Assembly makes a hasty decision, ordinary people who have been scammed, victims of violence, abused children, victims of sexual crimes and young people who have lost their rental deposits will bear the full cost and suffer the consequences,” Joo said. “The prosecution has made many mistakes. But just because prosecutors have done wrong does not mean we should strip them of all their powers.”
People Power Party Rep. Joo Ho-young filibusters an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on July 30.NEWS1
PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig said ahead of Thursday’s plenary session that “this is not a law, but a political backroom deal between the president, who wants to end his own criminal trials, and hard-line DP members who want to get rid of the prosecution service.”
The DP, however, has claimed that the amendment is meant to keep the balance of power between prosecutors and the police rather than protecting the president.
“Labeling basic safeguards to protect all citizens from arbitrary investigations and abuses of prosecutorial power as legislation for a specific individual is no different from denying even the most basic principles of the rule of law,” DP spokesperson Park Ji-hye said during a press conference on Thursday.
The PPP can delay the amendment from clearing the National Assembly, but the parliament can end the filibuster if 180 of the current 299 lawmakers vote on a motion to do so 24 hours after it was submitted. The ruling bloc has enough seats to end the filibuster.
DP Rep. Cheon Jun-ho and 160 other lawmakers submitted a motion to end the filibuster at 4:06 p.m. immediately after Joo opened his remarks. Joo was still delivering remarks as of press time.
Earlier in the day, the parliament passed through a bipartisan agreement a bill to appoint a special counsel to investigate a ballot paper shortage incident that occurred during the June 3 local elections, when multiple polling stations across Korea ran out of ballot papers on Election Day, leaving some voters unable to vote.
