MediaWatch CEO Byun Hee-jae, who received a finalized guilty verdict for spreading allegations of manipulating the so-called "Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil) tablet PC," has lost another state compensation lawsuit.

Judge Kim Ga-young of Civil Settlement Division 209 at the Seoul Central District Court recently ruled against the plaintiff in the damages suit filed by Byun against the state.

Byun was indicted in June 2018 on charges of spreading false information—through MediaWatch articles and YouTube—to the effect that "JTBC conspired with former Cheong Wa Dae administrator Kim Han-soo to acquire the tablet PC, manipulated the files, and reported it as if it had been used by Choi Soon-sil." Last March, about eight years later, the Supreme Court finalized a prison sentence of two years for him.

In October of last year, before the Supreme Court ruling was handed down, Byun filed a claim against the state seeking 50 million won in compensation for mental distress, arguing that "the actual user of the tablet PC was former administrator Kim, but prosecutors instigated perjury from him to conceal this, resulting in (my) guilty verdict."

The court did not accept Byun's claim, stating that the judges in his criminal trial had recognized Choi as the actual user based on photos and chat lists stored on the tablet PC, and that there was no evidence to overturn this judgment.

Byun appealed the ruling on June 28.

Last September, Byun filed a separate state compensation lawsuit claiming he suffered mental damage because the first-instance court in his criminal case sentenced him based on false investigation results, but he recently lost the first-instance trial and has appealed.

After his guilty verdict was finalized by the Supreme Court, he also filed a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court, but the Constitutional Court dismissed it during the preliminary review stage, stating it did not meet the grounds for a petition.

(Photo: Yonhap News)