Disposition of'the suspect' to the forced sex trafficking victim... The constitution overturned

The Constitutional Court put a brake on the prosecution's disposition, which applied the allegations of prostitution, without clear evidence against it, despite allegations that he had suffered damage from being forced into prostitution.

The Constitutional Court said that a Thai woman, Mr. A, made a citing decision based on the consensus opinion of all the judges in the Constitutional Petition Tribunal for the prosecution to cancel the prosecution's suspension of prosecution.

A Thai woman, A, entered Korea with a ticket sent by a job agent to work in a Thai massage parlor.

However, the place that followed the mediator was not a normal massage shop, but a decadent shop where prostitution was carried out.

The mediator forced Mr. A into prostitution, and Mr. A, who had no other way to repay the referral fee, eventually engaged in prostitution four times.

The Gwangju District Prosecutor's Office, who was investigating this case, admitted to Mr. A's suspicion of prostitution and put him on probation.

However, Mr. A disagreed with the disposition, saying that he was a victim and filed for a constitutional petition.

The Constitution found that considering Mr. A's economic conditions and language barriers, it could not be concluded as voluntary prostitution because Mr. A did not actively reject the mediator's request.

In particular, in the light of the fact that Mr. A was arrested and imprisoned by a mediator while trying to depart for Bangkok immediately after prostitution, and the fact that the owner of the massage parlor acknowledged that Mr. A was a ``trafficking victim,'' Mr. A's assertion as a victim of prostitution was judged to be credible.

Despite this, the Constitution pointed out that the prosecution had suspended prosecution against Mr. A for a crime. This violated Mr. A's right to equality and pursuit of happiness.

A constitutional official said, "In the process of investigating allegations of prostitution, if the suspect claims to be a victim of prostitution, the judgment clarified that the prosecutor should investigate the evidence against it."

(Photo = Yonhap News)