Spycam victim complains about court video screening

A woman who fell victim to a sex video scandal involving soccer star Hwang Ui-jo complained Tuesday that the court disrespected her during the recent trial of Hwang's sister-in-law, who was convicted for spreading the video in question and threatening Hwang.

Last week, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Hwang's sister-in-law to three years in prison for uploading intimate pictures and videos of Hwang and blackmailing the 32-year-old soccer player. The woman featured in the video, sent a letter to KBS voicing her objections to the court's lack of consideration for her during the legal proceedings.

"I've read that the trial has been switched (from a public hearing) to a closed-court hearing for the screening of the video. The news made me so angry and I couldn't stop crying due to how embarrassed I felt. ... Even though it wasn't (shown publicly), several people were present when the video was screened. I cannot understand why the video of my body had to be seen together in an open area," she wrote in an e-mail sent via her lawyer.

The victim had been in a romantic relationship with Hwang when the video was filmed and has claimed that Hwang recorded the video without her consent. The soccer star is currently under investigation over the allegation.

The woman also took issue with the verdict, for which the court considered the fact that the victim in the video "could not be specified."

"Does that mean distributing illegal videos that cut out the face (of the victim) can receive lighter punishment or even be sentenced not guilty? Just because the face has been cut out, doesn't mean the woman isn't a victim," she said, stressing that it would be easy for her acquaintances to deduce her identity from the video.

The victim's lawyer Lee Eun-eui said the scandal has destroyed her personal relationships, adding that Hwang has inflicted secondary damage on the victim by revealing details that could identify her. After the allegations of illegal filming surfaced, Hwang revealed that the woman is a married TV celebrity without going into details.

"We found during the police investigation that the frequency of the victim's name being searched on the online search engines spiked (in light of Hwang's comments)," Lee told local media.

The court said that it was merely following the due legal procedures of verifying the evidence when it screened the video, and reiterated that it was screened during a closed-door hearing.

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