Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party criticized on the 11th, calling the unprecedented situation of indefinitely halting the trial of Lee Jae-myung, the president, an act of the judiciary bowing to the president and destroying the fundamental order of democracy in the separation of powers, stating it was unconstitutional and an act of self-harm that denies the independence and reason for the judiciary's existence.
On this day, Representative Ahn stated on SNS that the court indefinitely suspended the trial of Lee Jae-myung regarding serious criminal cases such as violations of the Public Official Election Act and the Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong corruption, with the next trial date to be designated later. He criticized it as unconstitutional and a decision that uproots the foundation of the rule of law.
Representative Ahn noted that Article 84 of the Constitution states that 'the president shall not be subject to criminal prosecution during the tenure of office, except for insurrection or treason,' arguing that while there is debate on the scope of 'prosecution,' it is widely interpreted among constitutional scholars as only meaning the filing of a lawsuit (indictment), not including stopping ongoing trials.
Representative Ahn argued that despite this, individual courts unilaterally stopping trials amounted to granting privileges surpassing the Constitution to Lee Jae-myung, the president, and questioned whether the courts have the right to tell the public to obey the law if they interpret the Constitution arbitrarily to suit the preferences of those in power and major crime suspects. He claimed it directly contradicts the fundamental principle specified in Article 11 of the Constitution that 'all citizens are equal before the law.'
Representative Ahn urged the prosecution to immediately challenge the unjust delay of the trial date by the court and to employ all means allowed under the Criminal Procedure Act to push for the resumption of the trial. He strongly urged the judiciary to make independent and reasonable judgments on the remaining cases of Lee Jae-myung that are currently under trial.