Grand National Party Floor-leader Lee Jae-oh announced Sunday that he would submit a petition to the Seoul District Court, Monday, signed by 151 lawmakers of the GNP and United Liberal Democrats, requesting the release of jailed newspaper owners. The petition, which was released to the press, states ¡°The newspaper owners, who have been detained, are those who have faithfully carried out their duties as members of the press working for the democratization of the country and the people¡¯s right to know. They are leaders in our society who willingly cooperated with the tax investigation and the prosecution. They represent no risk of flight or the destruction of evidence and so should be tried without detention.¡±
The petition also said that there was rising condemnation and resistance by the people at the government¡¯s pressure and open intervention into critical media. It continued that the country was in crisis due to mismanagement of national affairs, and the discovery of a plot to contain critical newspapers was a shock to the general public.
GNP Senior Deputy Spokesman, Chang Kwang-keun said that the tax investigation and arrests of newspaper owners was found to have been planned by key players in the government. He added that the petition was not meant to infringe on the judicial prerogatives of the court.
(Hong Seok-joon, udo@chosun.com)
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