On February 2, former April member Chaewon updated fans on her ongoing lawsuit against her former group mate Lee Hyunjoo, publicizing her position via her own YouTube channel.
First, Chaewon revealed, "Previously, I filed a lawsuit against the defendant for spreading false information about me, including that there was bullying within our group, or that I dated a manager. The police have since determined that the defendant was 'not guilty', and so I am in the process of filing for an appeal against this decision."
Chaewon then went on to reveal the details of the police report, including why the case concluded with the defendant being found "not guilty". According to the report, the police ruled that "testimonies by witnesses including the members of April, the group's agency president, the group's manager, the group's former member, and choreography teachers must be deemed unreliable due to their close relations to the plaintiff. Furthermore, it is difficult to determine if the claims can be considered wholly 'false information', due to the fact that a member's relationship to a group and their personal feelings are distinctly subjective. Therefore, it is difficult to confirm the truth of the matter objectively. Additionally, evidence submitted by the defendant including her diary entries, written testimonies by trainees who were under the company prior to her departure from the group, etc cannot be labeled as 'false'. Finally, there are reasons to suspect that the dating claims between the plaintiff and the manager at the time may be exaggerated; however, due to the witness's refusal to testify, it is difficult to confirm whether or not the claim is true or false."
Regarding the police report, Chaewon argued that the police unfairly determined whether or not some witnesses were "reliable" while others were "unreliable" under questionable criteria. Chaewon also stated that the former manager who was accused of dating her submitted evidence denying the claim in the form of a Kakao Talk message; however, the police chose not to accept this as viable evidence.
Finally, Chaewon commented, "I made painstaking efforts by gathering the testimonies of many acquaintances in order to unveil the truth, but all that I received in return were the same 'not guilty' rulings. However, in the hopes that others like me will not have to endure the amount of pain that I dealt with while being accused of false truths, I have decided to move forward with an appeal. I sincerely wish that the truth will come out. I have now learned that it is extremely difficult to prove truths in legal proceedings. Nonetheless, I always spoke the truth, and I have nothing to hide."
You can find Chaewon's full YouTube update, below.
even if she and april are guilty of bullying hyunjoo, she deserves to have witnesses tell their story. they rejected almost everything she put forth. its also pointed out that hyunjoo got to have her brother and close friend as a witness, but chaewon cant use ANYONE related to the situation bc theyre too close to her?? since when was that a rule to determine who gets to testify??
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