Looking into whether Lee Jae-myung’s sentencing was “too harsh” based on sentencing guidelines and past cases

[Anchor]

There are claims within the Democratic Party that the sentence of one year in prison with a two-year probation for Representative Lee Jae-myung is excessive.

Was the sentencing truly harsher than the guidelines, and how do past cases compare?

Reporter Lee Ho-joon investigates.

[Report]

The first trial court found Representative Lee guilty, stating that he "deliberately lied for the purpose of winning the presidential election."

According to the Supreme Court's sentencing guidelines, the basic sentence for publicizing false facts for election purposes is a maximum of 10 months in prison or a fine of 8 million won.

However, if there are aggravating circumstances, the prison sentence can increase to a maximum of 2 years, and the fine can go up to 10 million won.

Aggravating circumstances are defined as important considerations regarding the candidate, significant dissemination, or prior convictions for similar offenses.

The first trial court determined that Representative Lee's statements had high dissemination due to its having used the broadcasting medium and were connected to important matters regarding the candidate's qualifications.

The court also pointed out that he had been fined for similar offenses.

Considering that there are two or more aggravating circumstances and both statements are of guilty conviction, Representative Lee's sentence could have been as high as 4 years and 6 months in prison or a fine of 22.5 million won.

The court's choice of a prison sentence, which deprives eligibility for candidacy twice as long as a fine, is analyzed as an indication that they weighed the charges to be serious.

[Park Sang-jin/KBS Advisory Lawyer: "The first trial court seems to have regarded Representative Lee's actions as a serious crime that significantly affected the fair judgment of general voters, warranting a long-term deprivation of candidacy."]

During the last presidential election, Huh Kyung-young, the honorary representative of the National Revolutionary Party, was also indicted for publicizing false facts around the same time as Representative Lee and received a sentence of 2 years in prison with 3 years of probation from the Supreme Court in April.

Representative Lee expressed his intention to appeal immediately after the first trial's verdict, and the appeal must be submitted within this week.

The prosecution has also stated that they will analyze the judgment document to decide whether to appeal.

KBS News, Lee Ho-joon.