GNP floor leader slams judiciary over MBC report acquittal

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- The ruling party's floor leader on Thursday blasted
the acquittal by a court of five employees of national broadcaster MBC who had
been charged with defaming officials in a critical report on the government's
decision to resume U.S. beef imports, describing the ruling as politically
motivated.
Four producers and a script writer at MBC were indicted without physical
detention in June 2009, a year after Seoul's agriculture ministry filed a
complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office accusing them of airing a biased
and slanderous report on the safety of U.S. beef.
While noting that the report was flawed and contained exaggerations, the Seoul
Central District Court cleared the defendants of all charges, concluding that it
is unlikely that the producers purposefully distorted facts.
"I was extremely flabbergasted after hearing the conclusion of the mad cow
disease trial ... this ruling, which medical experts, the people and even those
within courts were shocked at, does not prove the judicial branch's independence
but rather a sense of judiciary self-righteousness," Ahn Sang-soo, floor leader
of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), said during a meeting with senior party
members.
Ahn argued that the judicature can only collapse with courts filled with judges
that he describes as "young and unexperienced," and urged the head of the Supreme
Court to intervene and prevent such rulings that "violate the people's common
sense."
Wednesday's ruling comes at a time when the prosecution is at odds with the
judiciary, following the recent acquittal of minority Democratic Labor Party
chief Kang Ki-kab of charges of violent behavior at the National Assembly during
a struggle against a U.S free trade bill.
"We should have directly involved ourselves in reforming the judiciary branch.
That is how the judicial branch can become independent and win the trust of the
people," Ahn said.
South Korea initially halted imports of U.S. beef in 2003 after a case of mad cow
disease was confirmed in the U.S.
The government's decision to resume imports in 2008 touched off weeks of street
protests throughout the summer of that year, forcing the Lee Myung-bak
administration to renegotiate detailed terms with Washington.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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