A group of law school students has criticized the court’s decision to acquit former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung in his sexual assault case.

The group, consisting of students from multiple law schools across the country, issued a statement on Monday, lashing out at the Seoul Western District Court’s ruling last week finding the former governor not guilty on charges of sexual assault against his former secretary.

They argued the lower court was more stringent than the Supreme Court in interpreting what constitutes sexual molestation and adultery caused by power disparity at the workplace. They said they cannot ask the court why it applied more retrogressing standards than the existing top court rulings. 

Last Tuesday, the court handed down the “not guilty” verdict for An, citing the limits of the nation’s current laws. The court noted that the standard of what legally constitutes rape is whether or not assault or threat was involved. 

The 54-year-old politician was indicted in April on charges that he sexually assaulted and harassed his then-secretary Kim Ji-eun multiple times from July 2017 to February this year in an abuse of his authority.