The crime of impunity against doctors, which cannot be punished if the victim of a stalking crime does not want it, will be abolished. However, as concerns about false accusations arise, the importance of first response is increasing.
According to the legal community on the 11th, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly recently passed a bill to amend the Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes (Stalking Punishment Act), which aims to abolish the crime of impunity against doctors and establish new types of online stalking acts.
The amendment also includes provisions defining the act of sending voice, text, photo, or video messages using social networking services (SNS) as a type of stalking crime. In addition, providing, distributing, or posting the other person's personal information and location information to a third party, or impersonating the other person by stealing their identity, is also clearly defined as stalking.
With the abolition of the crime of impunity against a doctor, perpetrators will no longer be able to commit secondary stalking crimes or retaliatory crimes under the pretext of agreement.
Although the problem of withdrawing complaints due to pressure from the perpetrator has been resolved, there are concerns that false accusations may follow. For example, in a case that occurred in Gyeongbuk last year, suspect A met accuser B at a gathering of acquaintances and continued an affair. Then, when the affair was discovered, Mr. A asked Mr. B to help him avoid divorce.
However, Mr. A divorced, and after that, Mr. B continued to try to contact Mr. A. When Mr. A did not respond, Mr. B filed a complaint, claiming that the messages and phone calls he had shared with Mr. A in the past were stalking.
This case is a violation of the stalking punishment law in which the victim, Mr. A, actually became a suspect. If the crime of impunity against a doctor is applied, there is a possibility that the case will have to go to trial even if an agreement is reached with the victim. However, due to a careful initial response, the case did not proceed to the trial stage and ended with a non-indictment.
Therefore, with the abolition of the crime of impunity against a doctor, the initial response to prove innocence in such false accusations is expected to become more important. Daeryun Law Firm, which defended Mr. A at the time, said, “Even if victims of stalking maintain their intention to punish during the investigation stage, they often express their intention not to be punished during the trial,” adding, “It is expected that secondary offenses will be prevented with the abolition of the crime of impunity against a doctor, but there are concerns that the mental pain of suspects who have been falsely accused will be significant.”
He added, "Like the previous case, it is expected that it will be important to establish at the police investigation stage that the suspect's actions were justified and that this action did not cause anxiety or fear in the other party, so that the initial response is carried out so that the case does not proceed to the trial stage."
View full article - Stalking punishment law 'non-punishment for anti-doctors' abolished... raising concerns about false accusations
