
South Korea investigators seek to arrest former President Yoon
Yoon was formally stripped of office in April, after being impeached and suspended by lawmakers over his Dec. 3 attempt to subvert civilian rule, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament.
He is already standing trial on insurrection charges, personally attending court to defend himself against the allegations.
However, he has refused several summons issued by a special counsel formed to investigate the martial law declaration that parliament voted to launch earlier in the month.
'Today, the special counsel requested an arrest warrant for former president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges including obstruction of official duties,' the special counsel said in a statement.
'The arrest warrant was requested in order to conduct the suspect's interrogation,' it said, adding that 'he has clearly indicated his intention not to respond to future summons.'
Prosecutor Park Ji-young, a member of the special counsel, said in a news conference that Yoon was just 'one of several suspects' that they had summoned to be questioned.
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Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Pakistan Senate approves bill allowing three-month detention of terrorism suspects
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Senate on Tuesday approved amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) empowering security agencies to detain suspects of terrorism and other serious crimes for up to three months, a move the government says will help fight militancy and address the country's longstanding issue of enforced disappearances. The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2025, passed by the National Assembly last week, will now go to the president for assent before becoming law. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar defended the measure while speaking in parliament, saying it created a lawful framework for preventive detention that would strengthen counterterrorism operations. 'This will be a lawful process and there will be no enforced disappearances anymore,' Tarar told lawmakers, adding that the legislation was aimed at combating militancy and contained safeguards to prevent misuse. Enforced disappearances have long been a contentious issue in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, the site of a decades-old separatist insurgency and where families and rights groups accuse state institutions of arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings. Authorities deny the allegations but the practice has remained a source of domestic and international criticism. By creating a legal mechanism for short-term preventive detention, the government says the new law will replace illegal practices and address concerns raised by families of missing persons. The amended law comes as Pakistan grapples with twin insurgencies: religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who operate mainly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and ethno-nationalist Baloch separatists fighting against the state in southwestern Balochistan. Pakistan became the world's second-most affected by terrorist violence in 2024, with deaths rising 45 percent to 1,081, according to the Global Terrorism Index 2025. WHAT THE LAW SAYS The amendment allows the government, armed forces and civil armed forces to place terrorism suspects under preventive detention for up to 90 days, based on credible information or reasonable suspicion. Enforcement in provinces will require approval from respective governments, and detainees will have legal recourse through federal and provincial review boards made up of Supreme Court and high court judges. The bill also gives legal cover to joint interrogation teams (JITs) comprising officials from multiple law enforcement and intelligence agencies, with the aim of making operations more effective. Opposition parties, including jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), strongly opposed the amendment in the Senate, warning that it could be misused against government critics. 'The amendment undermines constitutional freedoms,' PTI Senator Ali Zafar told Arab News, citing Articles 9, 10A and 19 of the Constitution, which guarantee security of person, fair trial and freedom of speech. 'While we must protect lives from terrorism, we also have to safeguard constitutional rights, without which Pakistan cannot be called a democracy,' Zafar said. 'Counterterrorism does not mean counter-democracy. The law must be targeted, precise and just.' Legal expert Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed said the effect of the new law would depend on whether it truly did away with the practice of enforced disappearances. 'If the amended law means that security and law enforcement agencies will now only detain people, then it could have a net positive effect,' he told Arab News. 'If, on the other hand, it merely means yet another legal method … while enforced disappearances continue unabated side by side, then obviously it will only be another tool of repression.'


Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
China's top diplomat to visit Pakistan on Thursday for strategic dialogue amid regional tensions
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Al Arabiya
7 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
There is an upward trend in India-China ties, India's top security official says
There is an upward trend in India-China relations and bilateral engagements between the neighbors have been more substantial, India's national security advisor told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday as they began border talks.