MDP hit over leakage of probe records

The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) has made a hot political issue out of the alleged leakage of documents from the state prosecution`s investigation into the April 13 parliamentary elections, contending that the prosecution must have handed the records to the ruling camp so they could coordinate their views in advance.

GNP spokesman Kwon Chul-Hyun asserted in a statement that the incident has made it clear that the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), the prosecution and the National Election Commission conspired to permit a dozen MDP lawmakers to avoid indictment, as MDP deputy secretary general Yoon Chul-Sang stated at a recent party caucus. The GNP demanded the ruling camp clarify the process of producing the probe records and its background.

However, MDP deputy spokesperson Kim Hyun-Mi said that if any official documents were leaked, the incident should be examined by the investigation authorities, adding that the MDP had nothing to do with the case. She went on to say that the documents were a mere summary of the investigative process and that the opposition party had no grounds to accuse the MDP of collaboration with the prosecution.

The probe records at issue were carried in a weekly dated September 6 and described the contents of charges against 116 lawmakers-elect in the general elections and progress with the investigations. The Public Security Dept. of the prosecutor¡¯s office confirmed on Thursday that the investigative record was an official prosecution document.