By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
To submit the list or not to submit? That is the question.
Civic groups and the prosecution are playing a ping-pong game over a list of prosecutors who allegedly received bribes from Samsung Group, which a former insider of the conglomerate allegedly retains in his possession.
The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Lawyers for a Democratic Society filed a complaint with the prosecution Tuesday against Samsung executives including Chairman Lee Kun-hee to demand an investigation into their alleged embezzlement, bribery and other irregularities.
The complaint was based on a ``disclosure'' by lawyer Kim Yong-chul, a former executive of Samsung's legal department. Kim claimed the group raised a slush fund by keeping the money in its executives' bank accounts, and bribed policymakers, prosecutors and judges.
He said he has a list of some prosecutors who received kickbacks from the company.
The civic and lawyers' groups are urging the prosecution to launch a full-scale investigation immediately, while the prosecution is saying it is difficult to do so unless the groups make public or submit the list first.
``We are ready to reveal the truth through a thorough investigation. However, we cannot put the case under any prosecutor's charge until we are given the list of alleged `bribed prosecutors' to ensure fairness,'' a prosecutor said Tuesday after the complaint was filed.
He said the list would prevent alleged ``corrupt'' prosecutors from taking part in the probe, as the prosecution has been denounced for ``unfair'' investigations in many cases where high-ranking political and business figures were involved.
However, the complainants denounced the prosecution in their statement, saying the prosecution is evading its responsibility as its duty is investigating criminal suspicions.
They claimed the core of the case and the complaint lie not on the corrupt prosecutors but on Samsung's illegalities. ``The prosecution can sort out such bribed prosecutors by questioning Kim during its investigation,'' the groups said.
``By saying that it cannot probe without the list, the prosecution has given up on an investigation and admitted the need to adopt an independent counsel. By saying so, it also confirmed the allegation of corrupt prosecutors and declared it would not actively probe the case,'' they said.
rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr
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