Source: STAR News
Former Big Bang member Seungri has denied charges of special assault in court.
On the 26th, the military prosecution shared CCTV footage and claimed that Seungri called in gang members to a bar in Gangnam in December 30, 2015 where he was drinking with acquaintances. The prosecution claimed that Seungri committed actions like acting out and swearing. The prosecution unveiled the CCTV and watched it with judges, Seungri and the lawyers.
The prosecution looked closely at the CCTV and pointed out the scene where Seungri and the victim appeared and met in the video. Afterwards, Seungri was seen delivering a message to someone and prosecutor stated, "Only Seungri will know who he was contacting." Prosecutors explained that 3 gangsters appeared after two other people that participated in controversial katalk group chat with one of them convicted of sexual assault Jung Joon Young and Choi Jong-hun appeared.
Regarding this, Seungri stated, "Even though the victim had been drinking and made me uncomfortable I still greeted him a handshake. I was with an actress at the time and eventually felt uncomfortable so I tried to leave."
The lawyer explained, "Seungri was initially alone with actress C in the bar room. The Pocha is a regular bar celebrities go for parties but they also have exclusive rooms. A was drinking and kept glancing over at the actress in front of Seungri. It wasn't a good situation for Seungri but he laughed it off and tried to get along with A. In the CCTV you can see Seungri and A shaking hands prior to him entering the room. Seungri then sent off the actress first and then moved to another place to have a drinking party." A was reportedly an employee of a large entertainment agency.
The lawyer added, "The person that he contacted was a person in charge of guarding celebrities not a gangster. And although he's currently indicted, he's accused of driving without a license not special assault. The person that appeared on the video has never talked to Seungri and someone other than Seungri called him to come to the bar. We're also aware that during investigation it was revealed he has no connection to Seungri."
Seungri's side also repeated emphasized that statements given during investigation by Jung Joon Young and others may not necessarily be accurate and kept claiming "he did not remember." They stated, "As celebrities they don't always have time to read the full contents of all katalk chats properly."
Seungri's side also particularly questioned Jung Joon Young's prostitution charges and asked, "When the members of the katalk group chat like Seungri and Yoo In-seok invited Mo madame in 2015, they mainly talked about business, were there any chats related to prostitution? No."
In the meantime, the court announced that the trial would take longer due to more witnesses of Seungri's special assault being called to attend interrogations following Jung Joon Young's appearance.
According to the court, about 10 witnesses are expected to attend the trial in April alone.
Additional source: My Daily