S. Korean court again rejects prosecutors’ request for extension of Yoon’s arrest
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South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attending the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SEOUL - A Seoul court on Jan 25 again turned down prosecutors’ request for an extension of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s arrest, putting pressure on prosecutors to quickly indict him.
The Seoul Central District Court retained its earlier decision that rejected the prosecution’s first request to extend the impeached President’s detention for the investigation into his botched martial law attempt
The special prosecution team had filed a new request with the court for the extension of the warrant until Feb 6, but the court turned it down, saying it saw little need for the prosecution to “supplement” the investigation that has been led by the anti-corruption agency.
“With the court’s rejection of the extension, prosecutors must now work quickly to formally indict Yoon to keep him behind bars,” Mr Yoo Jung-hoon, an attorney and political commentator, told AFP.
Mr Yoon was arrested last week on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained in a criminal probe.
He has refused to cooperate with the criminal probe, with his legal defence team arguing that the investigators lack legal authority.
The suspended President is also facing a separate hearing in the Constitutional Court, which, if it upholds his impeachment, would officially remove him from office.
An election would then have to be held within 60 days. KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, AFP
