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| 2023-08-04 11:22:17
lawmakers-arrest warrants
2 DP lawmakers attend court hearings on arrest warrants over cash-for-votes scandal
SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- Two lawmakers previously of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) attended court hearings Friday to determine whether to issue arrest warrants for them in connection with a cash-for-votes scandal surrounding the party's 2021 leadership election.
Reps. Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Sung-man, now independents after quitting the DP, are accused of involvement in distributing cash envelopes, each containing 3 million won (US$2,303), to 20 DP lawmakers as part of the election campaign of former DP leader Song Young-gil. Song ultimately won the election and served as DP chairman until March 2022.
In May, prosecutors sought arrest warrants for the two, but the National Assembly rejected a request for consent to their arrests. By law, lawmakers cannot be arrested without parliamentary consent while the National Assembly is in session.
Prosecutors applied for arrest warrants for them again earlier this week, and the two can be arrested this time if the court grants the warrants because the National Assembly is out of session until Aug. 16.
"I will sincerely respond to the court hearing and proactively explain myself," Youn told reporters before attending a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court.
Lee squarely denied the allegations after arriving at the court for a separate hearing, saying "I will do my best to explain to the judge how unjust the prosecutor's application for the arrest warrant is and have the court make a wise decision."
The court is expected to make its decisions late Friday or early Saturday.
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