The brother-in-law, who was charged with spreading false information about broadcaster Park Soo-hong and sentenced to a fine in the first trial, appealed.
Judge Kang Young-ki of the Seoul Western District Court sentenced Lee, who was charged with defamation under the Information and Communication Network Act, to a fine of 12 million won on the 11th.
Since then, the prosecution has submitted an appeal letter against the first trial on the 16th and Lee on the 17th, respectively.
Park Soo-hong and his wife sued Lee for defamation in October last year. Lee was put on trial for sending a message containing false facts such as "I lived with a woman when I appeared on the show" in a Kakao Talk group chat room with the aim of slandering Park Soo-hong.
The first trial court convicted the defendant, saying, "We can admit that the article sent by the defendant is false in relation to the article posted in the group chat room," adding, "Even if the defendant believed the false fact to be true, it cannot be considered that there was a legitimate reason."
"The defendant committed the crime to form favorable public opinion while receiving public attention due to legal disputes such as embezzlement of himself and his husband," the court said. "It seems that he had a strong intention to slander the victim, and the crime is poor, such as not only sending messages that slander the victim, but also writing Internet messages so that they can spread more."
"Due to the nature of the victim's occupation, the degree of defamation is large and the spread of false facts remains on the Internet, but the defendant is not asking for forgiveness from the victim, citing only the situation of himself and his family," he said.
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