Friday, January 17, 2025 - Lawyers for impeached South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol failed in their court effort to secure his release on Thursday, January 16, a day after he was detained at his residence for questioning over rebellion allegations linked to his martial law declaration last month.
Yoon was sent to a detention centre near the country’s capital, Seoul,
after undergoing more than 10 hours of questioning on Wednesday, January 15 at
the headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking
Officials, during which he exercised his right to remain silent. Yoon refused
further questioning by the anti-corruption officials on Thursday as his lawyers
maintained that the investigation was illegal.
Lawyers had asked the Seoul Central District Court to consider his
release, questioning the validity of the detention warrant for Yoon issued by
the Seoul Western District Court but the Central District Court denied their
petition late Thursday night.
Yoon had avoided several requests to appear for questioning before the
anti-corruption agency and police carried out a major law enforcement operation
involving hundreds of personnel to detain him at his residential compound in
Seoul.
Investigators are expected to move to place him under arrest in the
coming days.
The anti-corruption agency, which is leading a joint investigation with
the police and the military over whether Yoon’s martial law declaration
amounted to attempted rebellion, has 48 hours either to request a court order
for his formal arrest or to release him.
On Thursday, his lawyers formally declared that Wednesday’s raid at the
presidential residence, which led to the detention of a head of state, was
illegal, in complaints filed with prosecutors.
Yoon didn’t attend a hearing at the Central District Court on Thursday,
which was part of the review over his detention warrant, because of security
concerns, according to Seok Dong-hyeon, one of the president’s lawyers.
Hundreds of Yoon’s supporters rallied for hours in streets near
the court and the detention centre where Yoon was being held, waving banners
and chanting slogans calling for his release.
Yoon set off the country’s most serious political crisis since its
democratization in the late 1980s when he attempted to break through the
gridlock in legislation by declaring martial law and deploying troops around
the National Assembly on December 3.
The standoff lasted only hours before lawmakers managed to get through
the blockade and voted to lift the measure.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated
assembly voted to impeach him on December 14, accusing him of rebellion. His
fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberating on
whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reject the charges and reinstate
him.
In a video message recorded shortly before he was escorted to the
headquarters of the anti-corruption agency, Yoon lamented that the “rule of law
has completely collapsed in this country.” He echoed the arguments of his
lawyers that the anti-corruption agency doesn’t have the authority to
investigate his actions but said that he accepted detention to prevent violence
If prosecutors indict Yoon on the possible charges of rebellion and
abuse of power, he could remain under arrest until the first court ruling,
which is typically made within six months, said Park Sung-bae, an attorney
specializing in criminal law. Under South Korean law, the leader of a rebellion
can face the death penalty or life imprisonment, if convicted.
0 Comments