People Power Party lawmaker Jin Jong-oh said on the 3rd that he will file for an injunction to suspend the effect of a two-year suspension of his party membership rights imposed by the party's Central Ethics Committee.
In a Facebook post that day, Jin said he would seek a court ruling and submit the injunction request within the week.
Jin drew a line around his motives, saying the move was not a matter of political interpretation or internal party political judgment. He said he wanted a legal ruling on whether the grounds for the disciplinary action were sufficiently proven by objective facts and evidence, whether the conduct in question constitutes grounds for discipline under party rules, whether the disciplinary process was lawful and fair, and further, whether a two-year suspension of party membership rights is proportionate and appropriate relative to the grounds cited.
He stressed that the more a disciplinary measure entails serious restrictions on rights, the more strictly its grounds, procedures and appropriateness should be examined. "Facts as facts, evidence as evidence, procedures as procedures — I will have this judged according to law and principle," he said, adding that this was the reason he was seeking a court ruling.
Jin, seen within the party as aligned with lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, was referred to the ethics committee for backing Han's by-election bid as an independent candidate instead of his own party's candidate during the June 3 local elections. Disciplinary proceedings were later also opened over inappropriate remarks he and fellow People Power Party lawmaker Suh Beom-soo made at a forum on amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act attended by the victim of the Busan spin-kick assault case, resulting in the two-year suspension of his party membership rights.
