A woman in her 1s who was put on trial for holding a one-man protest near a shop run by her husband's girlfriend with a sign that read, "Let's not have an affair" has been acquitted.

The Busan District Criminal Division 40 (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-jae) announced today (1rd) that it has acquitted Mr. A, who is in his 40s, who was charged with defamation and obstruction of business, and suspended his sentence on charges of violating the Protection of Communications Secrets Act and causing injury.

On October 23, 2021, Ms. A held a one-person protest for about four hours from 10 a.m. near a shop run by Ms. B, who had an affair with her husband, holding a sign that read, "Let's not have an affair."

Mr. B sued Mr. A's actions, claiming that he had been defamed and interfered with his business, and the trial proceeded.

However, the court found it difficult to establish a defamation offense in view of the fact that it was difficult to infer that Mr. B was the subject of the picket.

The court explained the reasons for its ruling, saying, "The picket did not contain any language that could be inferred that the person having an affair was Mr. B," and that "it appears that there are a number of people other than Mr. B residing in the building where Mr. B is located, and it is not proved that the person was identified by the mere fact of holding the picket, or that it revealed any specific facts that could diminish Mr. B's social value or evaluation."

Regarding the charge of obstruction of business, it said, "Mr. A was only sitting with a sign on a street some distance from the entrance of the store, and did not act to obstruct the passage of customers," and "It is difficult to conclude that the force was exercised to interfere with the operation of the business premises just by holding a one-person protest."



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Separately, the sentence was suspended for the charge of violating the Protection of Communications Secrets Act and the charge of causing injury by recording the conversation between her husband and Ms. B without the consent of the parties.

Sentencing is a sentence in which a person commits a minor crime and then suspends the sentence for a certain period of time, but after the period is deemed to have been discharged (the right of prosecution has disappeared and the prosecution has disappeared).

In October 2021, Ms. A secretly installed a small tape recorder in an office in Busan to record the conversation between her husband and Ms. B, and submitted the transcript as evidence in a lawsuit for damages against her husband as a defendant.

In addition, Mr. A demanded a memorandum admitting that he had an affair with his husband, and in the process of arguing, he allegedly injured Mr. B.

The court stated the reason for sentencing, saying, "Regardless of who is responsible for the origins of the dispute in this case, Mr. A's guilt is not light in that he caused injury to Mr. B and submitted the unlawful recording as evidence in the lawsuit," but "However, the fact that he committed the crime in the course of complaining about the infidelity between his spouse and Mr. B and the fact that he is raising a minor child is taken into account as favorable circumstances."

(Photo = Yonhap News TV capture, Yonhap News)