A famed poet was found partially guilty Thursday of election law violations in connection with his campaign for an opposition presidential candidate last year, despite a jury acquittal late last month.

The Jeonju District Court convicted Ahn Do-hyun of slandering President Park Geun-hye, then ruling party candidate, but found him not guilty of spreading false rumors.

He was sentenced to a suspended fine of 1 million won ($942), the minimum imposable sum for such transgressions, while both the prosecution and defendant vowed to appeal the verdict.

On Oct. 28, a jury unanimously cleared him of both charges.

Ahn was indicted in June 2013 for posting 17 tweets accusing Park of illegally owning a national treasure while he was serving as an election strategist for the opposition candidate Rep. Moon Jae-in.

Park’s campaign vehemently denied the claim.

According to current election laws, it is illegal to use factually incorrect rumors to assail candidates with “the intent to render their candidacies invalid.” Ahn had disputed the charges by arguing his online comments only asked Park to clarify the whereabouts of a piece of brush-writing by independence movement activist Ahn Joong-geun.

According to the poet, official documents listed her as the holder of the treasure, while the Cultural Heritage Administration had labeled the coveted possession as “location uncertain.”

Late last month, however, a jury acquitted poet Ahn of the said election law violations in a 7-to-0 vote.

Overturning such verdicts is rare, although jury findings are non-binding. In fact, only 82 of the 1,091 jury decisions in the jury system’s six-year history have been overturned as of September this year.

The main opposition Democratic Party criticized the decision, with the party‘s deputy spokesperson Heo Young-il calling the Jeonju District Court’s pronouncement a “politically instigated” conclusion.

“(The court ruling) restricts freedom of expression while undermining the rule of democracy,” Heo said of the court’s disagreement with the jury.

Ruling Saenuri Party spokesman Park Jae-gap, meanwhile, announced the ruling party would respect the judiciary’s decision.

Both the prosecution and defendant were displeased with the court’s announcements in the argumentative atmosphere. The prosecution thought the penalty was too light while Ahn considered the ruling a symbolic gesture that breached his fundamental rights.

Other voices declared the ruling fair, however, because the verdict decreed that the defendant was “guilty but would not be penalized.” Hence, the court officials said, the decision to levy only a suspended, minimum penalty on the defendant was a reflection of the earlier jury decision in favor of Ahn. 


By Jeong Hunny
(hj257@heraldcorp.com)