Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro, right, and Diosdado Cabello, President of Venezuela's National Assembly, attend a demonstration commemorating the anniversary of a failed coup attempt led by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in 1992, in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013. The president was absent for the first time from the annual demonstrations as crowds gathered for multiple marches wearing the red T-shirts of his socialist movement. Chavez remained in Cuba, where he has been out of sight and hasn't spoken publicly since he underwent cancer surgery on Dec. 11. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
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Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro, right, and Diosdado Cabello, President of Venezuela's National Assembly, attend a demonstration commemorating the anniversary of a failed coup attempt led by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in 1992, in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013. The president was absent for the first time from the annual demonstrations as crowds gathered for multiple marches wearing the red T-shirts of his socialist movement. Chavez remained in Cuba, where he has been out of sight and hasn't spoken publicly since he underwent cancer surgery on Dec. 11. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
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A woman holds a trio of images showing Venezuelan St. Jose Gregorio Hernandez, top, renowned as the ``Doctor of the Poor''; a laminated holy card of Jesus Christ; and an image of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, at a church service where supporters of the ailing president gathered to pray for his health, in Caracas,Venezuela, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Venezuelans were warned that Chavez may not be well enough after his fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba to be inaugurated on Jan. 10. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
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A woman leans against a wall during an outdoor church service in front of the National Assembly, where supporters of Venezuela's ailing President Hugo Chavez gathered to pray for his health in Caracas,Venezuela, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Venezuelans were warned that Chavez may not be well enough after his fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba to be inaugurated on Jan. 10. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
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A woman recites the rosary at a local Catholic church where supporters of the ailing President Hugo Chavez gathered to pray for his health, in Caracas,Venezuela, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Venezuelans were warned that Chavez may not be well enough after his fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba to be inaugurated on Jan. 10. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
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A woman donning images of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez attends an outdoor church service in front of the National Assembly, where supporters of gathered to pray for his health, in Caracas,Venezuela, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Venezuelans were warned that their ailing president may not be well enough after his fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba to be inaugurated on Jan. 10. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
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A woman places flowers in front of an image of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in preparation for a mass in support of him in Managua, Nicaragua, Wednesday Dec. 12, 2012. Venezuela's Information Minister Ernesto Villegas expressed hope about the Chavez's returning home for his Jan. 10 swearing-in for a new six-year term after his cancer surgery in Cuba, but said in a written message on a government website that if Chavez doesn't make it, "our people should be prepared to understand it." (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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A man prepares a Venezuelan flag next to an image of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez before a mass in support of him in Managua, Nicaragua, Wednesday Dec. 12, 2012. Venezuela's Information Minister Ernesto Villegas expressed hope about Chavez returning home for his Jan. 10 swearing-in for a new six-year term after his cancer surgery in Cuba, but said in a written message on a government website that if Chavez doesn't make it, "our people should be prepared to understand it." (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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Ecuador's President Rafael Correa gestures during a press conference in Quito, Ecuador, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Correa expressed hope that Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez recovers from his fourth cancer surgery as soon as possible. Correa also said: "Commander Chavez is very important for Latin America, but if he can't stay at the front of Venezuela, the process of change must continue." (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
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In this Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 photo, Roh Hoe-chan, a lawmaker of the minor opposition Progressive Justice Party, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Roh known for criticism of the Samsung conglomerate has forfeited his seat in parliament after the Supreme Court ruled he violated communications laws by publishing incriminating wiretaps of conversations between Samsung officials on the Internet. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Bae Jae-man) KOREA OUT
SKorean lawmaker loses seat over Samsung wiretaps
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean lawmaker known for criticism of the
Samsung conglomerate has forfeited his seat in parliament after the
Supreme Court ruled he violated communications laws by publishing incriminating wiretaps of conversations between
Samsung officials on the Internet.
South Korea's top court upheld a lower court's conviction of lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan and a suspended prison sentence. He published transcripts of conversations between an aide to Samsung Electronics Co. chairman Lee Kun-hee and Lee's brother-in-law that were recorded by the national intelligence agency. The conviction disqualifies Roh from being a lawmaker.
A press release issued by Roh in 2005 included a transcript of the conversations, which revealed the names of prosecutors who were showered with cash by Samsung. He also posted the transcript to his website.
Roh, who was a lawmaker for the opposition Progressive Justice Party, has been a vocal critic of Samsung, South Korea's most powerful conglomerate, which dominates the country's economy. In testimony to the National Assembly in 2005, he used the wiretapped conversations to call for an investigation into Samsung's relationships with prosecutors. The probe led to the resignation of a vice justice minister but prosecutors only indicted Roh and a journalist for releasing the wiretaps.
Usually South Korean lawmakers are protected by an immunity that allows them to speak freely in the National Assembly without being sued for libel or prosecuted for other charges. At issue was whether such immunity applied to the lawmaker's actions in cyberspace. South Korea's Supreme Court ruled that it did not.
"Unlike distributing press releases to journalists, uploading messages on the Internet allows an easy access to anybody at any time," the court said in a statement explaining its decision. The ruling also said the Internet delivers "unfiltered" information to the public, while the media "select what to publish with responsibility."
Roh criticized the court's ruling as "anachronistic," saying that any citizen can easily distribute or publish information online. He also said his more important role as a lawmaker was to fight against corruption at powerful groups in South Korea including prosecutors, who are the only South Korean officials who can charge suspected criminals and supervise police investigations.
Roh said he did not regret his decision to publish the information.
"If I go back to eight years ago, I would still do the same thing," he said in a statement after the ruling.
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Youkyung Lee can be reached at Twitter: www.twitter.com/YKLeeAP
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