All appeals filed by the defendant and prosecutor are dismissed.

Summary of Grounds for Appeal

As to the punishment (fine 2,00,000) imposed on the defendant by the court below, the defendant asserts that the defendant is too unafford, and the prosecutor is too unafford and unfair.

Judgment

The purpose of the Public Official Election Act is to contribute to the maintenance and development of democratic politics by ensuring the legitimacy of the power of the State and local governments through ensuring that public elections, which are the basis of democratic politics, are held fairly in accordance with the free will of the people and democratic procedures, and by preventing any malpractice related to the election. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly diversify the violations.

An election campaign bulletin is a data that contains essential information related to election, such as personal information, property status, military service records, tax payment records, and criminal records, and it has a significant impact on the choice of candidates by voters, and among which criminal records are sensitive and important data that evaluate that they are figures of the candidates.

The Defendant interfered with the decision of the elector by stating falsely the column of the criminal records of such election campaign bulletins, and considering the fact that the second candidate and the non-section 32 were elected, the liability for the crime is not less than that.

On the other hand, when the defendant was in the trial, the defendant recognized the mistake of the crime of this case and reflects it, and the fact that the defendant has no record of the same crime is favorable to the defendant.

The crime of this case is one of the crimes falling under the category 2 (Publication of False Information for Election Purposes) of the second category (Publication of False Information for Election Purposes) among the election crimes in the sentencing guidelines established by the Supreme Court of Korea, and there is no aggravated or mitigated factors (special mitigation factors). In such cases, the recommended sentencing guidelines according to the sentencing guidelines shall be a fine of two million won to eight million won (basic area).

The above circumstances and the Defendant’s age, character, conduct and environment, and motive for committing the instant crime.