Ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol indicted for abuse of power
Yoon has been accused of obstruction of the exercise of rights through the abuse of power, a violation of Article 123 of the Criminal Act, when he declared martial law in December, according to the prosecution's Special Investigation Team led by Park Se-hyun, chief prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office.
The prosecutor's Special Investigation Headquarters on Jan. 26 had earlier indicted Yoon, who was then still the sitting president, on the charge of leading an insurrection and begun the proceedings in his criminal trial Feb. 20 while he was under detention. He was released in a separate court decision March 8.
The prosecutors have been moving ahead with the legal procedures for Yoon's criminal trial, while conducting supplementary investigations into the charge of abuse of power, which has now led to the additional indictment against Yoon.
The ex-president was permanently removed by the Constitutional Court in a unanimous 8-0 decision on April 4.
Meanwhile, Yoon -- whose criminal trial on charges of orchestrating an insurrection opened on Feb. 20 -- denied all allegations in two formal hearings held in April, claiming his Dec. 3 martial law declaration was a 'message to the public' and did not constitute an act of insurrection.
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