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Human Rights Violations: Concerning Arrest and Seizure and Search in Violation of Legal Procedures : Publishing Facts of Suspected Crime Before Indictment [2007] KRNHRC 9 (1 January 2007)

Citizen "Ko (51-year-old man, Representative of the Pusan Branch of the Korean
Teachers and Education Workers Union)" filed a complaint with the Commission,
contending that the police violated his human rights, as the police published facts of
suspected crime of the complainant to the press, without sufficient evidence, even before
official investigation, and that three policemen seized and searched the office of the
complainant early in the morning without prior notice.

After investigation, the Commission found that the respondents, who were
investigating a national security law violation incident, seized and searched the office of
the complainant on 7 o'clock in the morning when there was no one in the office, and that
the respondents officially announced that the complainant and his organization violated the
national security law on that day.

The Commission ruled that
(1) a prior notice should have been sent to the complainant to ensure that the complainant
could participate in the warrant execution process, in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act;
(2) the police concern for "possible evidence destruction" in this case did not require emergency
measures, even though the police had the authority not to send a prior notice in emergency cases;
(3) the police should have not skip a prior notice, unless there was clear and objective evidence
that the police could not execute the search warrant during business hours, when workers were in the
office, and had to execute the search warrant in the empty office in the early morning, because the police was
in an emergency.

The Commission concluded that the police violated human rights defined
in Article 12.1 of the Constitution, Articles 122 and 123.2 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
In principle, the Criminal Code forbids investigators from publishing facts of suspected
crime before indictment, and allows investigators to publicly announce facts of suspected
crime, only when respect for public's right to know is more important than protection of
right to personality and privacy of the suspect, and investigators have a reason to
immediately publish facts of suspected crime in an emergency. The Commission ruled that
investigators violated human rights of the complainant defined in the Preamble of Article
10 of the Constitution and Article 207 of the Criminal Code, and defamed the organization
the complainant belonged to.

Therefore, the Commission recommended the Chief of "E" District Police Agency to
give a caution to the three policeman who seized and searched the office of the
complainant to prevent recurrence of similar human rights violations.