A Seoul court has sentenced two men to prison for forcibly entering a courthouse and assaulting police officers during a protest earlier this year.
The Seoul Western District Court on Monday handed down prison terms of one year and six months to a 35-year-old man surnamed Kim, and one year to a 28-year-old man surnamed So, for their roles in the incident at the same court on Jan. 19, when it issued an arrest warrant for then-President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Both men were convicted on charges including special obstruction of public duty, destruction of public property and unauthorized entry into a government facility.
“The defendants characterized the court’s decision to grant a formal arrest warrant (for Yoon) as a political conspiracy. The crime was committed out of an obsession and determination for immediate retribution,” the court said.
The court stated that the ruling was made after considering that the defendants were first-time offenders and their deep remorse for their crimes.
Prosecutors reportedly sought three-year and two-year prison sentences for Kim and So, respectively.
The defendants on Jan 19 took part in a courthouse riot, which erupted shortly after the Seoul Western District Court granted a formal arrest warrant for Yoon over his short-lived Dec. 3 martial law declaration.
Enraged supporters, including Kim and So, surrounded and trespassed into the court, smashed glass partitions and office equipment, damaged vehicles of a state anti-corruption investigation agency and searched for Judge Cha Eun-kyung, who decided to issue the warrant.
While Kim was accused of assaulting police and damaging the exterior cladding of the court, So faced criminal charges of smashing windows and doors of the Seoul Western District Court.
The defendants admitted to all charges during the first formal hearing of the criminal trial on April 30.
Starting with the Wednesday trial, other defendants accused of involvement in the courthouse riot are scheduled to be sentenced.
The court’s ruling on four other defendants, who allegedly attacked police officers and reporters, is set to be made Friday.
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
