The number of offenders violating the Public Official Election Act related to the 20th presidential election nearly doubled compared to the previous presidential election. Among them, the number of suspects of public opinion manipulation, such as the publication of false information, more than tripled.
732 people arrested for election offenses in the 20s… 1.7 times higher than the 19th presidential election
On the 10th, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office announced that 732 election offenders were booked and 698 of them are under investigation. A total of nine suspects have been arrested among the subjects of investigation. The number of election offenders is 1.7 times higher than in the 19th presidential election in 2017, when 435 people were arrested and 7 people were arrested.
When looking at election crimes by type during the presidential election period, the number of people who manipulated public opinion, such as making false statements, was the most at 431 (58.9%). Next, crimes such as election violence (82 persons, 11.2%), bribery (17 persons, 2.3%), and government elections (15 persons, 2.0%), which included damaging posters or banners, were followed.
The number of false statements of fact increased by more than 300 compared to the 19th presidential election
Among the offenders of public opinion manipulation, the number of crimes related to the publication of false facts increased by more than 300 from the 19th presidential election (126), which became the main cause of the increase in the total number of election offenders. Converted to a percentage, it is a 3.4 times increase compared to the 19th generation.
In this regard, the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office explained that “even though the number of cases such as bribery elections has decreased, the number of complaints and accusations made by political parties and civic groups related to the publication of false information has increased significantly.”
About 83% of all accusations and accusations related to the publication of false information came from political parties and civic groups. Considering the fact that such crimes accounted for 58% in the 19th presidential election, this is an increase of about 25%.
Of the total 732 cases, 609 cases were submitted to the prosecution, and 123 cases were submitted to the police and requested for correspondence, search and seizure, or arrest warrants to the prosecution or were rejected. The case that the police are investigating on their own without applying for a warrant to the prosecution is not included in the Supreme Prosecution’s tally on that day, and the overall size of the case is expected to be larger.
Prosecutors maintain emergency service system until December 1. Cooperation with the police to respond to election crimes
On the same day as the presidential election, three people were charged with violating the Election Act in the by-elections for the National Assembly members held in five places across the country.
As of the same day, 220 people were identified as election offenders related to the 8th local election to be held on June 1. Prosecutors have already handed over 19 of them to trial.
Prosecutors will maintain an emergency service system until December 1, when the statute of limitations for prosecution in the case of a local election is completed, cooperate with the police to respond to election crimes, and prosecute so that a sentence corresponding to the charges of those who have already been handed over to trial can be sentenced. We will try our best to maintain it.
An official from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said, “Irrespective of the political party to which the election offender belongs, the rank or rank, etc., the case will be handled fairly in accordance with the laws and principles, and we will do our best to maintain the prosecution.”
