A 60-year-old man has been charged and transferred to prosecutors after allegedly assaulting police during a protest at a polling station in Seoul.
The Songpa Police Station announced on July 8 that the man, identified as A, was transferred to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office on charges of obstructing official duties.
A is accused of pushing a police officer who was trying to remove protesters blocking the entrance to the National Assembly's investigation committee at the Olympic Park handball stadium on July 2 at around 1:10 p.m.
During the protest, participants linked arms and chanted, "No entry without a warrant," as police began to remove them one by one.
Police arrested A in the act and applied for a warrant to secure his detention. The Seoul Eastern District Court issued the warrant on July 4, citing concerns of flight risk.
Additionally, on July 7, the Songpa Police Station transferred two men in their 20s and one man in his 40s to prosecutors without detention on charges of aggravated obstruction of official duties.
These individuals are accused of assaulting police officers near Gate 1-5 of the handball stadium at 6:40 p.m. on June 5, when ballots were being transported to the polling station.
They reportedly blocked police officers exiting after the transport and continued to assault them, claiming that election commission staff were disguised as police.
Police have identified all three suspects and applied for arrest warrants for the two men in their 20s who were more heavily involved in the incident on June 29.
However, the court denied the warrants on July 2 after a pre-arrest interrogation, stating there was no risk of evidence destruction or flight.
Police also transferred a woman in her 20s to prosecutors on July 6 for violating the Information and Communications Network Act after she posted false information about the incident on her social media.
As of now, there are 2.47 million ballots from the June 3 local elections remaining at the Olympic Park handball stadium. These ballots have been processed but could not be removed due to the ongoing protests outside the venue.
The blockade protest at the Olympic Park handball stadium, triggered by a shortage of ballots for the June 3 local elections, has now lasted over a month.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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