The Prosecution Service has requested a three-year prison sentence for Byun Hee-jae, a senior advisor and representative of Media Watch, who is accused of spreading false information claiming that the tablet PC contract document related to the "Park Geun-hye Abuse of Power" case was forged. Byun is currently serving a two-year sentence, finalized by the Supreme Court in April, for allegedly spreading falsehoods that JTBC manipulated and reported information from the tablet PC, a key piece of evidence in the case.
The Seoul Western District Prosecution Service announced on the 9th that during the first-instance sentencing hearing held at the Seoul Western District Court on the 3rd, it requested the court to impose a three-year prison term for Byun on charges of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.
Byun is accused of spreading false claims 13 times between May 2020 and May 2023 on his YouTube broadcasts, stating, "SK Telecom forged the tablet PC contract document related to the abuse of power case and submitted it as evidence to the court."
Byun has denied all charges. His legal team has argued, "The results of fact-finding requests and handwriting analysis from related lawsuits support our innocence," and added, "The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is also investigating suspicions of collusion among prosecutors involved."
The verdict will be announced on December 21 at 10 a.m.
The People Power Party urged on the 9th that the police should swiftly investigate allegations of false fact dissemination related to Democratic Party of Korea-affiliated Gangwon Governor Woo Sang...