Questioning rooms get remodeled
Published: 22 Dec. 2004, 22:35
Seoul Southern Prosecutors Office opened a few of its remodeled rooms yesterday to the press, including a studio with a recording system and a room with sofas and teddy bears.
The changes came after complaints from the way police handled a gang-rape case earlier this month in Miryang, South Gyeongsang province.
In the room where prosecutors meet victims or defendants, a video arecording system has been set up to tape the questioning.
It’s hoped that the system can be used for female sexual assault victims so they don’t have to go through the stressful process of testifying in public at court, prosecutors said.
The remodeling also separates questioning rooms from secretaries’ offices. In the past, victims of sexual violence complained that the rooms were too open for them to comfortably talk to investigators.
The interrogation room where prosecutors decide whether to arrest or indict a suspect was redesigned to look like a smaller version of a court, with seats provided for the suspect’s lawyer to participate in the interrogation.
The move was aimed at preventing criticism that prosecutors lead questioning under situations where they concentrate more on getting confessions from the accused rather than pursuing the truth.
Interrogation rooms for children and women were decorated with wallpapers that present a warmer atmosphere than the previous drab concrete walls. Dolls, toys and books filled one corner of the room.
Windows on the wall were also switched to one-way mirrors to protect a victim when they had to pick out an offender.
Prosecutors said interrogation rooms at Seoul Central, Seoul Southern, Incheon and Suwon Public Prosecutors Office would be remodeled first as a trial.
by Ha Jae-sik
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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