A senior police officer who led rallies earlier this year in protest of the government’s move to create a police oversight bureau under the interior ministry has been slapped with a three-month job suspension.

According to the police on Tuesday, the National Police Agency’s central disciplinary committee informed senior superintendent Ryo Sam-young earlier in the day of his suspension, the fourth-heaviest punishment under the police code of conduct following expulsion, dismissal and demotion.

A civilian advisory committee within the police agency earlier recommended a mild disciplinary measure against Ryu, but Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun called for a heavy punishment from the central committee.

Ryu, who was the head of an Ulsan police station, presided over a national meeting of superintendents in July attended by over 50 senior police officers who opposed the government’s move which some critics saw could impede reform measures aimed at shifting some power from the prosecution to the police.