three-year sentence for former local police chief, other officials acquitted

Lee Im-jae, 54, was convicted of failing to anticipate the huge influx of people in Itaewon on October 31, 2022. Other officials, including the head of the local administration, were acquitted. The court found that the stampede was an “unclassified incident” and that the regulations were not “mandatory.” The victims’ families want to appeal and ask for harsher sentences.

Seoul (/Agencies) – Since the stampede that occurred in Itaewon – the neighborhood of Seoul, where nightlife is concentrated – on October 31, 2022, Halloween night, caused 159 deaths after an exceptional agglomeration of people In one of the first public events after the pandemic, the victims’ relatives have not stopped demanding justice. Yesterday a court in the capital sentenced Lee Im-jae to three years in prison54, former police chief of Yongsan District. The prosecution affirms that the massive influx of people was foreseeable, but despite this those responsible for security did not take measures to guarantee order. That night there were just over 130 officers present at the scene, of which only about fifty were in uniform: a completely insufficient number.

Reconstructions of the tragedy had pointed to the responsibility of senior government officials, including President Yoon Suk-yeol himself and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, which later fell on deaf ears. The associations and families of the victims consider that investigations involving minor officials have exempted officials at the highest levels from their true responsibility. Indeed, investigations have focused on Lee Im-jae and other officials in that district, including the head of the Yongsan administration, Park Hee-young.

However, the Seoul court found them not guilty, because the regulations in force at the time of the events did not require them to implement security measures for unplanned events. “Crowd stampedes caused by large gatherings were not classified as an incident under the law at the time,” the judges stated, “and there were no mandatory regulations specifying the need to establish special security management plans for unorganized events. “.

The prosecution had sought seven-year prison sentences for both Lee Im-jae and Park Hee-young. The defense of the accused, however, maintained throughout the process that a crowd stampede of such dimensions could not be foreseen in advance, which exempted both of them from any responsibility.

So far, 23 people, including two companies, have been indicted in connection with the tragedy. Indeed, it is not the responsibility of individual people because, as the Constitutional Court itself established, the Halloween drama of 2022 is the result of a failure that involves multiple government bodies and agencies. It is enough to think about the clue of the abusive construction of the pedestrian passage, which that night was less than 4 meters wide, in violation of South Korean legislation. Following yesterday’s sentencing, the victims’ families held a press conference in front of the court building to denounce the outcome, especially the acquittal of the mayor of Yongsan District, and urged the prosecution to appeal the sentence for more sentences. severe for both defendants.