![]() ▲ 23일 오후 2시 서울 종로구 헌법재판소 탄핵심판 대심판정에서 열린 윤석열 대통령 4차 변론기일. © 뉴시스 |
윤석열 대통령 측이 5일 전날 헌법재판소 5차 변론기일 증언에 나선 홍장원 전 국가정보원 제1차장 진술 관련해 "사실을 왜곡하고 오염된 진술을 했다"며 "내란 혐의도 실체가 없다"고 강조했다.
윤 대통령 법률대리인단은 이날 오전 낸 입장문을 통해 "애당초 내란죄 실체가 없기 때문으로 선동과 조작이 아니고는 자신들이 원하는 결과를 얻어낼 수 없기 때문"이라고 밝혔다.
그러면서 "내란 사건 관련 검찰 공소장 적시 사실과 윤 대통령 헌재 탄핵심판 증언이 엇갈린다"며 "민주당 정치인들 증인 회유·부화뇌동한 수사 기관 유도신문·편승한 일부 언론 왜곡 보도가 분명하게 확인됐다"고 강조했다.
대리인단은 '홍 전 차장이 윤 대통령에게 정치인 체포지시를 받은 게 아닌 여인형 전 국군방첩사령관에게 명단을 받았을 뿐으로 여 전 사령관이 체포 지시를 이야기한 사실도 없다'는 점을 근거로 지적했다.
홍 전 차장은 전날 헌재 5차 변론 증인신문에서 국회 측 대리인이 "피청구인(윤 대통령)이 '이번 기회에 싹 다 잡아들여. 자금이면 자금, 인력이면 인력, 무조건 도와'란 취지로 말했나"라고 묻자 "그렇게 기억한다"고 답했다.
또 "14명, 16명이든 또박또박 다 적을 수 있는 상황이 아니었고 적다 보니 '이게 뭐지' 하는 생각이 들어 뒤에 있는 부분들은 반 정도 적다가 추가로 적지 않았다"며 "이런 분들 체포·구금해 조사하는지 아직도 이해 못 하겠다"고 답하는 등 앞서 증언한 이진우 전 수도방위사령관·여인형 전 국군방첩사령관 등과는 다소 상반된 증언을 했다.
아래는 위 기사를 '구글 번역'으로 번역한 영문 기사의 [전문]입니다. '구글번역'은 이해도 높이기를 위해 노력하고 있습니다. 영문 번역에 오류가 있을 수 있음을 전제로 합니다.<*The following is [the full text] of the English article translated by 'Google Translate'. 'Google Translate' is working hard to improve understanding. It is assumed that there may be errors in the English translation.
President Yoon Seok-yeol's side: "Hong Jang-won distorted facts, contaminated statements... No substantive charges of sedition"
"It has been clearly confirmed that the Democratic Party's witnesses were coaxed, the investigative agencies were tricked into questioning, and some media outlets took advantage of the distorted reports. Hong did not receive orders to arrest politicians from President Yoon, but received the list from Yeo In-hyung."
-kihong Kim reporter
President Yoon Seok-yeol's side emphasized on the 5th that regarding the testimony of former First Vice Director of the National Intelligence Service Hong Jang-won, who appeared for the 5th hearing of the Constitutional Court the day before, "he distorted the facts and made a tainted statement," and "the charge of sedition is also groundless."
In a statement released that morning, President Yoon's legal representative team stated, "This is because the charge of sedition was not substantive in the first place, and they cannot obtain the results they want without instigation and manipulation."
In doing so, they emphasized, "The facts stated in the prosecution's indictment regarding the sedition case and President Yoon's testimony at the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial are inconsistent," and "It has been clearly confirmed that some media outlets have distorted the reports by coaxing and inciting witnesses from Democratic Party politicians."
The legal representative team pointed out that "Former Vice Director Hong did not receive an order to arrest politicians from President Yoon, but only received a list from former Commander of the Armed Forces Counterintelligence Command Yeo In-hyeong, and the former commander never mentioned an arrest order."
Former Vice Minister Hong responded, “I remember it that way,” when the National Assembly representative asked during the 5th hearing of the Constitutional Court the day before, “Did the defendant (President Yoon) say something like, ‘Let’s arrest them all. If it’s money, it’s money. If it’s manpower, it’s manpower.’”
He also said, “I couldn’t write down 14 or 16 people, and as I wrote them down, I thought, ‘What is this?’ so I wrote down about half of the parts that came after and didn’t write any more.” He gave testimony that was somewhat contradictory to the testimony of former Capital Defense Command Commander Lee Jin-woo and former Defense Counterintelligence Command Commander Yeo In-hyeong, who testified earlier.