Arrest Warrant Denied for Former Detective Chief in 'Jang Yoon-gi Case' Investigation; Setback for Probe into Higher-Ups

[Anchor]

An arrest warrant has been denied for the former head of the detective division at Gwangsan Police Station, who was identified as a key figure involved in allegations of a botched investigation into the Jang Yoon-gi case. Observers say that a setback in the police's investigation into higher-ranking officials is now inevitable.

Reporter An Huijae has the story.

[Reporter]

Superintendent Park, the former head of the detective division at Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju, appeared for his arrest warrant review yesterday (July 21) morning.

While stating, "I am sorry to the victims and their families," he maintained that there were no unfair orders.

[Superintendent Park / Former Head of Detective Division, Gwangsan Police Station: There were no unfair orders from higher-ups during the case handling process, nor did I issue any such orders.]

Superintendent Park is accused of directing a flawed investigation, including referring the case against Jang Yoon-gi under charges of "simple murder"—which carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison—instead of "murder for the purpose of rape," which would have carried a potential life sentence or the death penalty.

However, Superintendent Park strongly denies the charges.

He also claimed that there were guidelines from the National Office of Investigation to separate Jang Yoon-gi's sexual assault crimes from the murder case.

[The Attorney / Legal Counsel for Superintendent Park: Guidelines were issued by the National Office of Investigation on three separate occasions to not merge the cases, so we only handled the general case.]

An official from the Violent Crimes Investigation Division of the National Office of Investigation explained to the press corps that "the intention was for the detective division and the women and youth affairs division within the same Gwangsan Police Station to cooperate and proceed."

Furthermore, regarding the claim that "the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency requested that the application of rape-murder charges be considered first," the official drew a line, stating, "No, that did not happen."

The police special investigation team had applied for an arrest warrant on charges of abuse of power and dereliction of duty, believing that Superintendent Park had exerted influence between the already-arrested investigation team leader and the Gwangsan Police Station chief during the Jang Yoon-gi investigation. However, the court dismissed the request, stating that the necessity for detention was not recognized.

With the failure to secure Superintendent Park, analysts suggest that the special investigation team's probe into the so-called higher-ups, including the former Gwangsan Police Station chief and other command staff, has hit a roadblock.

(Video reporting: Joo Beom, Choi Dae-woong | Video editing: Oh Young-taek)

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