People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido on Thursday. [Newsis]
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido on Thursday. [Newsis]

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok called on the government and the Democratic Party to immediately halt their push to abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigation authority, saying crime victims are "pleading in tears" for it to be preserved.

In a Facebook post Thursday, Jang said "the vast majority of the legal community, regardless of political leaning, is expressing concern, and voices of opposition are emerging even within the Democratic Party," and went on to say that "the only ones pushing for abolition are the 'gaeddal' and Democratic Party leadership contenders."

He then said those individuals "are not fighting to protect the lives and safety of the people, but solely to protect the security of those in power and to compete for party control in their own interests."

Jang also said "what threatens the lives of the people is not a politicized prosecution but an incompetent police force — corrupt and politicized prosecutors are the ones who need to be reformed," and called for police reform before any dismantling of the prosecution service.

He added that "if the prosecution is dismantled, the Democratic Party will be dismantled too, and if supplementary investigation authority is stripped away, the administration will be stripped away as well."


husn7@heraldcorp.com