Investigation into 'Botched Probe' Extends to Higher-Ups... "Strict Response to Secondary Victimization"

[Anchor]

A former head of the detective division, who was the superior of the investigation team leader in the case of the alleged botched investigation into the 'Jang Yoon-gi case,' will face a court hearing on July 21 to determine whether he will be detained. The police have stated they will respond strictly to any secondary victimization of the victim and the bereaved family.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

The pre-detention interrogation for Superintendent Park, the former head of the detective division at the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station, will be held at the Gwangju District Court on July 21.

Superintendent Park is accused of abuse of power, allegedly exerting influence during the process of referring the Jang Yoon-gi case to the prosecution under charges of general murder rather than rape-murder.

Park was part of the investigation command line during the initial probe into the Jang Yoon-gi case and was the direct superior of the investigation team leader who was previously arrested and referred to the prosecution.

The special investigation team suspects that, as Park held a rank between the investigation team leader and the police station chief, he may have received instructions from the chief before relaying them to the team leader.

It is reported that during recent police questioning, Park stated that he did not lead the decision to apply the general murder charge.

Therefore, if an arrest warrant is issued for Park, the investigation into potential interference by higher-ups is expected to gain momentum.

Separately from the investigation into higher-level interference, the special investigation team announced that it would respond strictly to secondary victimization targeting the victim and the bereaved family.

During a briefing on the interim investigation results on July 15, the police mentioned circumstances suggesting the investigation team at the time failed to properly identify the possibility that Jang Yoon-gi had known the victim unilaterally before the crime. Since then, groundless speculation targeting the victim and the family has spread, particularly on social media.

The special investigation team explained that it is taking measures to delete related comments and is conducting investigations into authors who have posted content that crosses the line.

However, there is also criticism that the police provided the pretext for secondary victimization by prematurely announcing unverified information.

(Video Editing: Park Ji-in)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.