South Korea's judicial system has taken a hit after netizens expressed displeasure over the court's decision to reject the issuance of a pre-detention warrant against former BIGBANG member Seungri that was requested by the prosecution.
According to a report, netizens took to social media to question the court's decision to let Seungri go without being arrested for the medley of cases lodged against him by the prosecution.
The decision made by Judge Song Kyung Ho was met with disbelief, with netizens questioning whether Seungri will be let off the scandal without being charged for any crime. Some even implied that the decision would have been different if Seungri was a regular citizen and not a celebrity.
It can be recalled that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, recently, requested the court to issue a pretrial detention warrant against Seungri based on seven charges. The prosecution applied for the warrant based on evidence for illegal overseas gambling, illegal currency transactions, and procurement of prostitutes for his business investors.
Upon arrival at the hearing venue, Seungri politely greeted the media covering the event but refused to answer questions involving his guilt or innocence.
"Considering the contents of the criminal charges that have been laid, well as the accused's role, degree of involvement, and room for contention within those charges, the progress of the investigation, collection of evidence, and the accused's behavior in cooperating with the investigation, it is difficult to recognize the necessity for [pretrial] detention," Judge Song Kyung Ho explained in his ruling.
It can be recalled that when law enforcement also applied for an arrest warrant in May of last year at the height of the scandal, and the court also rejected the move. Back then, Seungri was facing charges for the procurement of prostitution and embezzlement of 530 million won from the Burning Sun club, SCMP reported.
This time around, the prosecutors added two new cases to apply for Seungri's arrest including illegal gambling and illegal foreign exchange transactions, which also involved former YG CEO Yang Hyun Suk.
Last year, Seungri was caught in one of the biggest scandals to affect a Kpop idol with his involvement in the Burning Sun scandal. He was also named as one of the accomplices in Jung Joon Young's molka scandal where the singer illegally filmed and shared his sexual escapades in a group chat. Seungri was, most recently, caught in a hwangchigi scandal where he was accused of illegally gambling millions of won in Las Vegas casinos and using illegal foreign exchange transactions to cover his tracks. He retired last year from the entertainment industry to spare his BIGBANG members and his label from the criticism stemming from the scandal.
