By Foreign Correspondent Lee Jun-seo
Editor’s Note: The Suyang Times-Courier is a private newspaper based in Suyang, Haesan. As with all Haesanite news media, on issues regarding matters of treason or sedition, we are required to comply with the provisions of the Media and National Security Act of 1974.
HWAGANG: The Haesanite Ministry of Justice has officially submitted a formal request for the extradition of Social Democratic Party floor leader Devrim Köroğlu due to his pending arraignment for sedition and deleterious government activity under the Legislative Behaviour Act of 1977. In Haesan v. Köroğlu, federal solicitors convinced a federal judge to bring the charges against Köroğlu, and he has been arraigned to commence criminal proceedings.
Complicating the matter is the fact that Köroğlu is currently located in Milintica, after attending the so-called Red Wave Conference, where he made the allegedly seditious statements. The Times-Courier has discovered through various sources that Köroğlu was transiting through Eiria when he learned of the charges being brought against him, and returned to Milintica due to Eiria’s mutual extradition treaty with Haesan. The Democratic Times News Service has confirmed that Köroğlu is in fact currently located in Milintica.
Experts say that it is highly unlikely that Milintica, currently governed by a radical Arana regime, will approve the extradition request. Professor of Caxcanan Studies at Albarine University Jung Jae-won called the likelihood of the approval “a snowball’s chance in hell.” He further explained “Arana already thinks Haesan is a capitalist devil, and these charges, however reasonable they may seem to the average Haesanite, are incomprehensible. She will only stop until her corrosive, radical socialistic beliefs spread across the whole of the IDU.”
The move has garnered positive reception across Haesan and amongst key figures in Hwagang. Prime Minister Sabrina Hwang has said that Köroğlu’s remarks in Milintica were “dangerous to the fabric of society” and that “if he truly believes his conduct was defensible, he should not run from the justice system.” New Bargain floor leader Mireille Kim, who has repeatedly called Köroğlu’s actions detrimental to left-of-center politics in Haesan has also publicly condemned his remarks at the so-called Red Wave Conference. The office of Kim I-seul, while ostensibly supporting this given they likely initiated the charges, has declined to comment.
Other deputies from the Social Democratic Party have since protested the ruling, calling for a demonstration outside the national assembly. Very few people attended the rally, which has led to the arrest of the remaining 5 deputies on counts of protesting without a permit and public disturbance. Deputy floor leader Jin Min-hui called the move “another 2005”, referring to the Yeocheon Convention Massacre, in which the Social Democratic Party ceased to exist after dozens of party leaders were killed in the deadliest act of political violence since the establishment of the Second Commonwealth. Jin is expected to be further charged with a count of deleterious government activity.
International observers at the Howard Prince Gonzalez Institute have warned about a potential rule of law crisis. A report issued today described a state of “worsening political freedoms” in Haesan and cautioned that the “attempted judicial extermination of a political party would lead to a chilling effect on political, press, and speech-related freedoms in Haesan.” Domestic political institutes have taken a remarkably different tack; the Seo Ji-min Institute at Haesan University have stated that they will not update their Political Barometer in a statement, saying “upholding the rule of law is critical in a well-functioning democratic society, and the current charges show that no one, not even politicians, are above the law.”
Neither Devrim Köroğlu nor his legal team could be reached for comment.
