Shin Hye-sik, 5 Others Sent to Prosecutors on Obstruction of Duties Charges
Police have referred six associates of Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church to the prosecution in connection with the riot at the Seoul Western District Court last January. Among those referred are Shin Hye-sik, operator of the YouTube channel 'God's Hand,' Jeon's personal secretary, and church officials, who face charges of instigating building intrusion and obstruction of public duties. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Security Investigation Division announced on the 8th that the six were sent to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office on the 25th of last month without detention.
Police determined that Jeon instilled rally participants with the logic of the so-called 'people's right to resist' and operated an organized chain of command and orders from his inner circle to activists. Shin was additionally charged with violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act and obstructing public traffic. Senior pastor Lee of Sarang Jeil Church was separately charged with violating the Act on the Collection and Use of Donations for soliciting millions of won in donations from non-members.
Bae, representative of Shin Namseong Union, who was also investigated, was not sent to prosecution as his charges were not substantiated. Police explained that there was no evidence of Bae directly contacting Jeon, nor was it confirmed that he acted under Jeon's orders. The charge of instigating evidence destruction, separately filed against Bae, was also not recognized due to the difficulty in proving a causal link to actual deletion activities.
Jeon was arrested and indicted on February 3rd and is currently on trial. On the 7th, the Seoul Western District Court granted Jeon's bail request, stating there is room for dispute regarding charges such as instigating trespassing into special structures, necessitating the guarantee of his right to defense. In a previous hearing, the court had also pointed out the need to re-examine which of Jeon's actions constituted instigation, urging the prosecution to specify the charges.