“Are you Chinese police?” ... Three men in their 20s who cursed at officers during Jamsil protest sentenced to prison

[Financial News] Three men in their 20s who swore at police officers and obstructed their duties at a protest to blockade a vote-counting station at Olympic Park in Jamsil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, where ballots from the June 3 local elections were counted, were sentenced to prison in the first trial.
According to legal sources on the 7th, Lee Joon-gu, a judge in the Seoul Eastern District Court’s Criminal Division 7, sentenced Mr. Park (25), who had been indicted in custody on charges of special obstruction of official duties, to six months in prison the previous afternoon. Two other men in their 20s, including Mr. Kim (24), who had stood trial without being detained on the same charge, were also each sentenced to six months in prison and taken into custody in court.
They are accused of obstructing official duties during the Jamsil protest to blockade a vote-counting station on June 6, including by following a police officer around and swearing at the officer, calling them “fake police,” and physically blocking the way to prevent the officer from moving. Video of the incident showed protesters shouting things at police such as “Are you Chinese police?” and “Fake police,” and engaging in violence.
Police sought pretrial detention warrants for all three, but after holding a hearing to question the suspects before their detention, the court issued a warrant only for Mr. Park, citing “concern that he may flee.” At the final hearing held on the 1st of last month, prosecutors sought a year in prison for each of them.
The court explained, “The victimized police officer was wearing a uniform, including a vest marked ‘Police,’ and had a radio in hand. The officer also told the defendants their affiliation, rank and name. Although they appear to have been fully aware that the victimized officer was a police officer, they followed the officer for more than 30 minutes and physically blocked the officer’s way.”
The court added, “Obstructing official duties undermines the legitimate exercise of public authority, harms the functioning of the state and even threatens the physical safety of public officials, so it must be punished severely. The victimized officer appears to have experienced considerable fear and psychological distress as a result of this incident and is still calling for the defendants to be punished harshly.”
As for Mr. Kim, who had consistently denied the charges, unlike the other two, who admitted to the offense and showed remorse, the court pointed out, “The defendant claims that he acted in the moment after mistakenly believing that the victimized officer was impersonating a police officer, and that there was no conspiracy. However, it appears that he was fully aware that the officer was a police officer. His intent to commit special obstruction of official duties in collusion with the other defendants is also sufficiently established.” The court said it took into account, among other things, that he had no prior record of punishment for a similar offense.
The court added that although all three had deposited money with the court in connection with the criminal case, it would take this into account only to a limited extent because the victimized officer had stated that they did not wish to accept the money.
Police have said they are investigating 289 people in connection with 99 cases, including obstruction of business and obstruction of official duties during protests to blockade vote-counting stations. A man in his 60s who assaulted a police officer while blocking the National Assembly’s special committee for a parliamentary investigation from entering a vote-counting station was indicted while in custody. A woman in her 40s who spat at and cursed a police officer at the scene was also sent to trial while in custody. Prosecutors sought a two-year prison sentence for the woman.
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