Raid Embarrasses Lee Myung-bak Camp
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
The prosecution raided the headquarters of a support group of Grand National Party presidential contender Lee Myung-bak late Monday to search for evidence of alleged pre-electioneering.
It was the first time for the prosecution to storm into an organization linked a specific presidential aspirant and the Lee camp claims it was an intentional and biased move to frustrate the bid by the former Seoul mayor.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that they raided the headquarters of ``Hope 21,'' a mountaineering society and support group for Lee, and the homes of its leaders.
The fan club was formed voluntarily by Lee's fans as a support group in June last year after Lee's term as mayor was over. Since Lee has emerged as a leading presidential hopeful, the group has set up regional offices.
``The National Election Commission asked us to investigate suspicions that the chief and several other leaders of the group conducted pre-electioneering activities, going beyond its original purpose. So we raided the places to secure evidence,'' a prosecutor said.
The commission said it asked the prosecution for the probe as the group's leaders refused its summonses. It said the organization violated the Election Law by openly supporting Lee and conducting pre-electioneering under the pretext of club activities ahead of the upcoming presidential election in December.
``We requested a search warrant from the court with the commission's reports, and the court issued the warrant because it found the reports reliable,'' the prosecutor said, indicating the prosecution confirmed part of the pre-electioneering suspicions.
A branch of the group in Daegu was recently ordered by the commission to close its office for violations of the election law.
``The commission asked for the investigation of the club leaders, not election camp members. They are not directly related to Lee or Lee's aides at the camp,'' the prosecutor said.
After examining data seized during the raid, the prosecution plans to summon the group leaders.
The Lee camp strongly denounced the prosecution, saying it was the signal of the move to ``kill Lee Myung-bak.''
``We are enraged at the move. The raid also raises suspicion over the neutrality of the prosecution,'' Jang Kwang-keun, a spokesman for Lee, said.
The pro-government Uri Party lost no time to denounce Lee. It questioned whether Lee is qualified for the presidency in view of his ``several'' election law violations.