"Victims Will Bear a Heavier Burden": Concerns Raised Over Abolition of Supplementary Investigation Rights

[Anchor]

As we have just seen, this case is a prime example of how the truth was uncovered by filling the gaps in police investigations with supplementary investigations by the prosecution. Today, July 13, organizations supporting victims of violence against women held a joint press conference to clearly express their opposition to the complete abolition of supplementary investigation rights.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon looks into why they are raising their voices.

[Reporter]

In the 2022 Busan roundhouse kick assault case, the charge of serious injury was initially applied during the police investigation. However, through the prosecution's supplementary investigation and the appellate trial, it was revealed to be an attempted murder committed with the intent of sexual assault.

The victim, who visited the National Assembly today, personally appealed for the retention of supplementary investigation rights.

[Victim of the Busan roundhouse kick case: (Police officers) are human, so there should be measures in place where if one person makes a mistake, another can supplement it...]

Six organizations supporting victims of violence against women, along with Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-hee and Progressive Party lawmaker Son Sol, held a joint press conference to express concerns over the total abolition of supplementary investigation rights, citing the "remedy of victims' rights" as the core reason.

[Son Moon-sook, Director of the Solidarity of Women's Violence Counseling Centers: The process of discovering the substantive truth will be reduced. Victims will have to secure evidence themselves...]

They argue that if a prosecutor's ability to collect supplementary evidence is blocked and they are forced to rely solely on documents, it will create obstacles in uncovering the truth.

Furthermore, concerns were raised that case delays could worsen, noting that since the 2021 amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, the so-called adjustment of investigative powers between the police and the prosecution, the average case processing time has increased to 312.7 days, more than double what it was before the amendment.

[Choi Sun-hye, Secretary General of Korea Women's Hot Line: We hope that investigations will be conducted so that they are not unnecessarily delayed and that perpetrators can receive appropriate punishment.]

Pointing out that the objection system introduced five years ago alongside the police's authority to close investigations has been ineffective,

[Byun Eun-hee, Director of the Sexual Violence Counseling Center at Disabled Women's Empathy: Due to a lack of information, understanding, and distrust (regarding the objection procedure), the rate of objections has not even reached 30 percent. It has been (confirmed) that the objection system increases the burden on victims and lacks practical effectiveness.]

They argued that the "expansion of the objection system" currently being pushed by the ruling party is insufficient as an alternative, and raised the need for control over police investigations.

[Jeon Da-woon, Lawyer at the Women's Human Rights Committee of Minbyun (Lawyers for a Democratic Society): Police investigations must be thoroughly controlled through the prosecutor's investigative command, supplementary investigation rights, and the system of transferring all cases.]

Organizations supporting victims of violence against women emphasized that they doubt whether the currently discussed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act can properly realize victims' rights, and that this issue must be viewed from the perspective of the socially vulnerable.

(Video reporting: Oh Young-chun, Lee Seung-hwan, Kim Yong-woo | Video editing: Jang Hyun-ki | Graphics: Jang Chae-woo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.