18 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
South Korean prosecutors request detention for ex-president Yoon
South Korean special prosecutors filed a new request on Sunday to detain former president Yoon Suk-yeol, a day after he appeared before them for questioning over his declaration of martial law last year.
Yoon, who is facing a criminal trial on insurrection charges over the martial law declaration in December, was arrested in January after resisting authorities trying to take him into custody, but was released after 52 days on technical grounds.
'Detention request is related to allegations of abuse of power and obstruction of justice,' the special prosecutors investigating the declaration said in a statement.
The spokesperson for the special prosecutors declined to elaborate when asked why the detention request was submitted, saying they would explain it in court proceedings to decide on whether it should be granted.
Yoon's lawyers said in a statement that the special prosecutors had not provided credible evidence for the charges they were seeking, and his legal team would 'explain in court that the request for an arrest warrant is unreasonable'.
Park Jong-joon, former head of the Presidential Security Service (PSS), appears at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office to be questioned by a special counsel team over former president Yoon's insurrection charges in connection with his martial law declaration on Friday. Photo: EPA
Yoon has been accused of mobilising presidential guards to stop authorities from arresting him in January, but the court has previously dismissed the request for an arrest warrant after Yoon had initially refused to appear for questioning.
