Progressive lawmaker loses seat as top court confirms suspended

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a suspended prison term for Rep. Roh Hoe-chan for violating the Communications Privacy Act, stripping the minor opposition party's co-chairman of his parliamentary seat.

Roh of the Progressive Justice Party was found guilty of releasing a list in 2005 of seven former and sitting senior prosecutors who allegedly received bribes from Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-owned conglomerate.

Roh made the list public through a press release and on his private Web site, citing the transcripts of the National Intelligence Service's illegal eavesdropping on conversations of influential figures.

Under the current election law, a confirmed prison term in a criminal case results in the loss of a lawmaker's parliamentary seat.

A district court previously handed down a six-month prison term, suspended for two years, for Roh but an appellate court overturned the ruling and acquitted the lawmaker. The Supreme Court, however, again sent the case to the lower court, saying that putting the list on the Web site was illegal.

In a 2011 re-trial, Roh received a four-month prison term, suspended for one year. (Yonhap News)