▲ Former Democratic Party lawmaker Roh Woong-rae attends the first appellate trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on February 4.
Former Democratic Party lawmaker Roh Woong-rae, who was cleared of bribery allegations after prosecutors dropped their appeal, has been ordered to pay a fine for disclosing the criminal record of a businessman accused of offering the bribe.
According to legal circles on October 11, the Supreme Court's Third Division (presiding Justice Um Sang-pil) finalized the lower court's ruling on October 1 that sentenced former lawmaker Roh to a fine of 700,000 won on charges of defamation.
Roh was put on trial for defamation after stating while arriving for the first trial of his bribery case in May 2023, "The prosecution is turning me into a criminal just by listening to a man with a 16-count criminal record," referring to a man surnamed Park who was being tried alongside him as the alleged bribe giver.
The first and second-instance courts found him guilty of defamation and sentenced him to a fine of 700,000 won.
The appellate court pointed out in May of this year, "The defendant argues that he had no intent to defame and that his remarks concerned the public interest, rendering them lawful. However, to point out the unfairness of the prosecution's disposition, it was not necessary to disclose the informant's criminal record beyond refuting the indictment facts."
The bribery allegations state that Roh received a total of 60 million won across five occasions from Park between February and December 2020 in exchange for facilitating logistics center permits and providing convenience for power plant supply and solar power generation projects.
Roh was acquitted in both the first and second trials of the case, and his acquittal was finalized in August when prosecutors dropped their appeal.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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