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.
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