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Prosecutors on Monday slammed a bill submitted by the United New Democratic Party that would impeach three prosecutors who cleared Grand National Party presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak of involvement in a stock scam. In a briefing, Senior Prosecutor Kim Hong-il of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said, "If politicians submit to the National Assembly an impeachment bill to find fault with prosecutors' authority, all prosecutorial investigations of political issues will be interrupted. This will violate the prosecutors' political neutrality."
Kim said there already are legal mechanisms to appeal prosecutors¡¯ decisions, including constitutional petitions. ¡°If you ignore that process and submit such a bill to the National Assembly only because you're dissatisfied with prosecutors' judgment, it trivializes the whole idea of impeachment,¡± he said.
He denied any wrongdoing by his office. "In our investigation of the scandal, we made sure that the suspect's human rights were protected. We investigated the case fairly and strictly. We never violated the Constitution and the laws,¡± he said.
Justice Minister Chung Soung-jin threw his weight behind the prosecution. "I trust the results of investigation the prosecutors conducted,¡± he told reporters the same day. ¡°You shouldn't damage public trust in prosecutors by calling them 'politically motivated.¡¯¡± The minister added it was ¡°unfair to question the results of an investigation conducted day and night by elite prosecutors and launch such an offensive based on statements by a person who has embezzled tens of billions of won" -- a reference to Kim Kyung-joon, the former boiler-room operator who has been indicted for fraud and document forgery in the scandal.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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