Hi~ It’s been a long time to join our study since October. I’m very happy to see you again on this Saturday.
Please bring your life story or article.
Mongolian judge arrested at airport
Nov 07,2019
The top justice of Mongolia’s Constitutional Court was arrested upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday and immediately taken to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency to answer questions about allegations he groped a Korean Air flight attendant on a plane last week.Odbayar Dorj, 52, faces allegations that he grabbed the buttocks of a flight attendant in her twenties on the night of Oct. 31 during his flight from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to Incheon International Airport, according to officers from the Incheon police agency and the airport police. The chairman of the Mongolian Constitutional Court is known to be denying the allegations so far, saying he’s being mistaken for another Mongolian passenger.Dorj was on his way to attend a board meeting of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions in Bali, Indonesia. Incheon was his layover. Korean police suspect Dorj’s colleague, a 42-year-old Mongolian, also sexually harassed another 20-something-year-old flight attendant by wrapping his arms around her shoulders.Korean Air workers on the flight, who hold the authority to arrest misbehaving passengers on a plane, apprehended the two Mongolians and handed them over to the airport police at around 9:40 p.m. that day, shortly after their arrival at Incheon International Airport.But Dorj and his co-worker claimed they held diplomatic immunity, citing the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which enables diplomats to receive immunity from arrest, criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits from the countries they are posted to. In this process, according to Korean police, the Mongolian Embassy in Seoul weighed in and said Dorj and his colleague were indeed subject to the Vienna Convention. Airport police then wrongly released the pair - who are not, in fact, protected by the treaty. It was only after the police contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to verify whether Dorj receives diplomatic immunity that they realized he doesn’t. The Mongolian Embassy could not be reached on Wednesday for comment. Police returned to Incheon International Airport on Saturday afternoon and discovered Dorj waiting for his flight to Bali. Officers took him to an investigation room at the airport and asked him about the alleged sexual assault, to which he responded that a different Mongolian person groped the flight attendant, not him. Dorj said he would return to Korea after the conference in Bali. The second suspect, Dorj’s colleague, was not at the airport on Saturday when police arrived. It appears he departed for Singapore, though for what reason remains unclear.Incheon police received an arrest warrant for both Dorj and the other suspect on Tuesday and enforced the warrant for Dorj on Wednesday morning as he touched down at Incheon International Airport from Bali. Korean police have up to 48 hours to keep him in custody and decide whether to release him or ask prosecutors to file for a pretrial detention warrant. Police said they were consulting with the Mongolian Embassy to bring the other suspect back to Korea for questioning. Montsame, a Mongolian news agency, reported last Saturday that a spokesperson of the Mongolian Constitutional Court said the media reports accusing Dorj of sexually assaulting a flight attendant were “groundless and false.”“An attempt was made to blame the chairman of the Constitutional Court in the act of misconduct possibly committed by another citizen of Mongolia, who was sitting in the row behind him during the flight to Korea,” the statement reportedly read. “Chairman of the Constitutional Court D. Odbayar has turned to corresponding organizations concerning the wrongful accusation.”The two alleged victims told police they were “offended” by the Mongolians and wanted them punished.
Mongolian judge banned from leaving Korea
The chairman of the Mongolian Constitutional Court has been barred from leaving Korea for 10 days as police expand their investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed a flight attendant on a Korean Air flight.
According to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, Thursday, Dorj Odbayar was questioned for nine hours Wednesday, following his return to Korea from an international conference in Bali, Indonesia.
He planned to leave the country Friday, but the police, with the cooperation of the prosecution and the justice ministry, had in advance decided to place the 10-day travel ban on Odbayar for further questioning.
"It took longer than expected due to translation issues," a police officer at the agency said.
Odbayar is accused of groping a flight attendant's buttocks on a flight from Ulaanbaatar to Incheon, Oct. 31, and he was questioned for an hour-and-a-half the following day before transferring to Bali. He promised he would return to Korea for the transfer back to his homeland, and upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport, Wednesday morning, he was taken to the police agency for a second round of questioning.
During the interrogation, Odbayar said he could not remember if he grabbed the cabin crewmember's buttocks because he was drunk, according to the police.
"We cannot go into details about the ongoing probe, but are considering additionally charging him with violating the Aviation Security Act," the officer said.
Meanwhile, police have asked Interpol to issue a wanted notice for one of Odbayar's colleagues, who is also accused of sexually harassing another cabin crewmember on the flight. The two were reported to the airport police upon arrival, but the police mistakenly released them without questioning in response to the Mongolian Embassy in Korea's claim that they had diplomatic immunity ― which Korea's foreign ministry later denied.
Police then questioned Odbayar, but could not question the other man as he had already left for Singapore.
Main question
Q1. Have you ever witnessed sexual harassment on an airplane?
If you have, what did you do on that situation? or if you haven’t,
tell us your opinion about sexual assault on the airplane.
Q2. Many people in Korea often say they don’t remember when they are being investigated for crime.
Have you ever said that you don’t remember what you did on purpose to avoid uncomfortable situation?
Q3. If you were a judge in this case, what sentence would you give?
Could you write your verdict like a judge?
Q4. Have you lied to you family or friends? What was the biggest one?
Nov.9th.hwp