Parliament lifts arrest immunity of independent lawmaker at center of Easter Jet probe

Independent Rep. Lee Sang-jik, founder of the cash-strapped budget carrier Eastar Jet, speaks at the National Assembly on Wednesday, before a parliamentary vote on lifting his arrest immunity. (Yonhap)The National Assembly on Wednesday passed a motion that allows prosecutors to arrest Rep. Lee Sang-jik, the founder of the cash-strapped budget carrier Eastar Jet under investigation on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.

The motion to allow the arrest of Lee was passed in a 206-38 vote at a plenary session of the National Assembly. Eleven people abstained from voting.

Lee is currently under criminal investigation for allegedly colluding with a senior company official, who was indicted in February for allegedly causing about 43 billion won ($38.47 million) in financial damage to the airline by paying off long-term loans early and underselling company shares to a specific subsidiary.

The official, arrested in January, is known to be Lee's nephew. The prosecution believes the man committed the crime under Lee's direction. During a court hearing last month the suspect testified that he just did as he was told from above.

Sitting lawmakers are protected from arrest while the parliament is in session. The prosecution must obtain the National Assembly's consent to detain lawmakers.

In a speech before the vote, Lee said that the charges against him were "totally groundless, one-sided opinions of the prosecution," pleading for fellow lawmakers to vote against his arrest.

"Fellow lawmakers should not forget that they too could always become targets of intolerable shame and humiliation from the prosecution," Lee said.

Lee is also being probed over alleged violations of the act on political parties, prosecution officials said.

He is suspected of having operated an office of party members in his constituency in Jeonju prior to the parliamentary elections in April 2020, in violation of the act that bans individuals from running party offices.

Prosecutors filed an arrest warrant request with a court on Friday.

Wednesday's motion on lifting a lawmaker's arrest immunity was the 15th in parliament's history and the first one passed since that of Rep. Jeong Jeong-soon of the ruling Democratic Party in October of last year.

Lee, formerly affiliated with the Democratic Party, left the ruling party last September amid controversy over unpaid wages, mass layoffs and corruption allegations surrounding his family. (Yonhap)