Suspended president after attempt to impose martial law
A Court of Seoul rejected a second request for an extension of the detention of the South Korean president Yoon Suk-Yeol, suspended after his attempt to impose martial law, a move that puts pressure on prosecutors so that they incriminate him without delay.
Yoon was arrested last week during a raid at dawn on charges of insurrection, becoming the first southern head of state in office to be held in the context of a criminal investigation. His decree of martial law lasted only six hours on December 3, before being canceled by the legislators, who stormed the Parliament. But he made South Korea sink into the worst political crisis of the last decades.
Saturday, the central district court of Seoul rejected a second request from the investigators to extend the detention, the ministries said in a short declaration. A judge of the same court established on Friday that there were no “sufficient reasons” to accept the request, re -presented yesterday and again rejected.
Yoon is still in a detention center in Seoul. He refused to collaborate in investigations and his lawyers claimed that investigators are not entitled to proceed.
The suspended president is also facing a separate procedure before the Constitutional Court which, if he confirms his impeachment, will formally remove it from the assignment. The elections should then be launched within 60 days. Despite his state of prisoner, Yoon is still formally the Head of State of South Korea.
