Suspended prison term finalized for ex-lawmaker over election law violations

▲ This file photo shows former Justice Party lawmaker Lee Eun-ju speaking during a parliamentary session on Jan. 25, 2024. (Yonhap)

ex-lawmaker-sentence

Suspended prison term finalized for ex-lawmaker over election law violations

SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Yonhap) -- The top court finalized a suspended prison term for former Justice Party lawmaker Lee Eun-ju on Thursday on charges of election law violations.

Lee was charged with receiving illegal political funds totaling 3.12 million won (US$2,339) in late 2019 from 77 labor union members of Seoul Metro, the operator of most of the capital's subway networks, where she previously worked as an employee.

Charges against her also included providing free meals worth 370,000 won to members of one of her support groups and paying 7.5 million won in salary to two officials at her election campaign office in violation of the Public Official Election Act.

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for Lee.

Lee, who became a lawmaker on the proportional representation ticket of the progressive minor Justice Party in 2020, resigned from her seat last month ahead of the top court's decision.

By law, a finalized sentence worse than a 1 million-won fine, issued for election law violations, automatically results in the removal of a lawmaker from their seat.

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