1 in 3 arrest warrant requests for stalking crimes denied by court, police data shows
The 31-year-old suspect in the murder of a female Seoul Metro employee at Sindang Station on Line No. 20 shows up for a court hearing at the Seoul Central District Office, Sept. 16. Yonhap
One out of three arrest warrants requested by police in connection with stalking crimes are rejected by the court, data showed Tuesday.
According to statistics from the National Police Agency, police filed for a total of 377 arrest warrants for stalking from last October, when a new act on that type of crime took effect, to August. Of them, 123 requests, or 32.6 percent, were turned downed by the court.
The data was unveiled by Rep. Lee Seong-man of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea.
In comparison, police requested 6,695 arrest warrants in relation to sexual crimes from 2019 to last month and 1,184, or 7.7 percent, were denied by the court.
The data came amid public fury sparked by a stalking murder case last week.
A Seoul Metro employee was arrested for stabbing his female colleague to death in a subway station ladies' room last Wednesday, one day before a court was set to sentence him on charges of stalking her.
Police on Monday identified him as 31-year-old Jeon Joo-hwan and released a photo of him to the public.
In October, police requested an arrest warrant for the suspect after the victim reported the case. But the court refused to issue the warrant. (Yonhap)