Former President Chun Doo-hwan (90), who is accused of defaming witnesses by denying the fact that the military was shooting helicopters during the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement, departed for Gwangju today (9th) to appear in the appeals trial.
Jeon left his home in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul with his wife Lee Soon-ja (83) at around 8:25 am today.
He did not answer reporters' questions such as 'Do you have any intention of apologizing to the victims?'
Dozens of reporters and YouTubers gathered around the police fence from early morning in front of Jeon's home today.
In a memoir published in April 2017, Jeon claimed that the testimony of the late Father Jovio's helicopter shooting was false, and was accused of accusing Father Cho of being "a shameless liar without the word of a priest".
The court of first instance admitted that there was a shooting in Gwangju by a 500MD UH-1H helicopter on May 21 and 27, 1980, on November 21 and 27, 1980, and found that Jeon had intentional defamation, and sentenced him to 8 months in prison and 2 years of probation. I did.
In the first trial, Jeon appeared in court three times, including an acknowledgment examination and a sentencing date, but after the first trial, he did not appear in the court of appeals.
He expressed his intention to appear when the court of appeals warned that 'it can be tried without the accused, but there are bound to be disadvantages'.
The Gwangju District Court's Criminal Division 1 (Chief Judge Kim Jae-geun) will hold an appeal hearing in Court No. 201 at 2 pm.