Petition Submitted for Media Owners Release

The opposition Grand National Party and United Liberal Democrats and independent lawmaker Chung Mong-joon submitted a petition signed by all 152 members to Seoul District Court Monday calling for the release of jailed newspaper owners currently on trial for alleged tax evasion and embezzlement.

The petition said that the newspaper owners had faithfully carried out their duties as members of the press working for the democratization of the country and the people¡¯s right to know. It noted that as leaders in society who willingly cooperated with the tax investigation and the prosecution, they represented no risk of flight and could not destroy evidence and so should be tried without detention. It also added that there was rising condemnation by the people of the government¡¯s open intervention into critical media, saying the country was in crisis due to the mismanagement of national affairs, and the discovery of a plot to contain critical newspapers.

(Hong Seok-joon, udo@chosun.com)

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